Only talks can solve Kashmir issue:Mehbooba

Under attack from the opposition for "shelving the promise of dialogue with the separatists", Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today told the Assembly that there was "no other way but talks" for the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

"Dialogue has always been part of our agenda and manifesto, whether it was in 2002 or today. Several wars have been fought but the issue has not been resolved. You cannot resolve issues with guns or armies.

"We have to unite to get this (resolving the issue) done. Our people are dying, life along the border is disturbed and poor people on both sides are dying," she said while taking part in a discussion on obituary references for notable leaders who passed away between the two sessions of the state Assembly. 

The Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly met here today for a special session on the implementation of GST in the state, but decided to adjourn the House indefinitely till an all-party panel, formed to look into the new tax regime, submitted its report.

Mehbooba said while India was surging ahead of its neighbouring countries due to democracy, the "strangulation of this very idea in Kashmir" had led to the deteriorating situation in the Valley over the years.

"It is democracy which



has kept the nation alive and helped it move ahead of its neighbours. In our state, the main reason behind the bloodshed we are witnessing is that democracy was not allowed to take roots here. It was rejected and strangulated," she said.

The People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief said it was only in a democracy like India that people could put their divergent views out in the public domain.

"(Independent MLA) Engineer Rashid is talking big here and he can do it. We will not see this anywhere else. There is no tolerance for such things (in other countries)," she added.

Stressing on the need for dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue, she said whatever happened in the past should not come in the way of efforts to resolve the issue "through talks".

"Those who used to talk about drowning the separatists in the Jhelum and killing all the militants when the then prime minister A B Vajpayee mooted a Ramzan ceasefire, are calling for a dialogue today. This means, things are changing slowly," said the chief minister.

Responding to the allegation of "state terrorism" levelled by the opposition, the National Conference (NC) and the Congress, she said if it was true, 12-year-old kids would not be pelting stones near the encounter sites.