Time for Mehbooba to hand over Kashmir to President: Defence expert

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], May 9 (ANI): Coming down heavily on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for her statement that 'not every youth in Kashmir is a stone pelter' and for blaming the media for making the situation worse in the state, defence expert on Tuesday demanded her to recommend a President rule in the Valley as the situation is getting out of control. Defence expert Major General (retired) S.R. Sinho told ANI that by making such statements, Mufti was only demoralising the security forces and trying to gain sympathy from people, who have been indulging in such activities. "She was the one who released almost 700 stone pelters when she took over as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. I think we have seen that the security forces are being demoralised, because she is not taking proper action. She is not allowing the security forces to take action and by making such statements, she is only demoralising the security forces and also giving confidence to the stone pelters to get involve into such activities. I think it is high time she hands over the government to the President and recommend a President rule in the Valley because the situation is getting out of control," he added. Calling on the nation to divert their attention to the scores of achievements of the Kashmiri youth across all fields, Mehbooba asserted that not all youngsters were involved in the stone-pelting incidents. Talking to media, Mufti said, "I know the Kashmir issue is serious, but I don't believe there is anything which cannot be resolved." Claiming that not all Kashmiri youth were involved in stone pelting, Mufti said that if all they had done was sloganeering, then so many children would not have passed in their recent exams. Her statements came while she attended the opening ceremony of the Civil Secretariat in Jammu and Kashmir. Last Saturday, Mufti said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the only hope to address the 70-year-old Kashmir issue once and for all. (ANI)