&w=3840&q=100)
Reconciliation only solution to India-Pak tensions: Mehbooba Mufti
Responding to questions about the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the recent encounter in Kulgam, Mufti said, "Encounter used to happen and will always happen, but such a huge war took place before that. The ceasefire had to be declared later. Unless reconciliation, dialogue, debate and discussions are done, such encounters will go on, and we will always stay on the verge of war. Reconciliation is the only way forward."
Terrorists killed 26 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22 in a brutal and heinous attack. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) in response.
Meanwhile, security forces continue their operation in the Akhal Devsar area of south Kashmir's Kulgam district. One terrorist has been neutralised so far in the joint operation by the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir police, CRPF, and the Special Operations Group (SOG). The encounter began on Saturday and continued overnight.
A day earlier, ahead of the sixth anniversary of the revocation of Article 370, Mufti launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led Central government, saying the policy to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status has "completely failed."
"Six full years have passed since August 5, 2019. At that time, Jammu and Kashmir's special status was taken away, and Article 370 was revoked with the claim that everything would be fine in Jammu and Kashmir. But we have seen that the policy has completely failed," she told reporters.
Mufti alleged that the internal situation in the region has deteriorated rather than improved, pointing to ongoing security crackdowns.
"Internally, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is bad. For the past six years, arrests have been made daily. The situation in Jammu and Kashmir has become worse than before, although people are silent today. This is why our country has come into confrontation with Pakistan. What is Pakistan's stature? Their economy is not even a tenth of our economy, but today the whole world is comparing us with them," she said.
The former Chief Minister also criticised what she termed the BJP's "aggressive policy" and its broader impact on regional diplomacy.
"Unfortunately, the BJP has created such an atmosphere in the country that today all groups are saying, why did you agree to a ceasefire? This is the BJP's aggressive policy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
17 minutes ago
- Mint
‘A for Akhilesh', ‘B for Babasaheb': FIR against SP leader Farhad Alam over ‘PDA Pathshala'
Samajwadi Party leader (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over an FIR filed against a local SP leader in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur for allegedly teaching 'politicised alphabets' to children. SP City Vyom Bindal said a complaint was filed by Main Singh, a resident of the Kallarpur Gurjar village, alleging that local SP leader Farhad Alam Gada was teaching children "politicised alphabets" at a 'PDA Pathshala.' According to news agency PTI, the complainant said that the children were taught "A for Akhilesh", "B for Babasaheb", "D for Dimple," and "M for Mulayam Singh Yadav". The incident came to light after a purported video of the lesson, recorded at the SP leader's home in Ramnagar, was posted on social media and went viral. The children in the video were reportedly from a private school and were seen wearing their uniforms. In his defense, Farhad Gada had previously claimed that the "PDA Pathshala" was not just for teaching ABCs but also to educate children about the 'great men of Samajwadi ideology,' PTI reported. He had also stated his intention to open similar schools across the district. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav posted on 'X', 'Even the British did not file an FIR for studying. The anti-education face of the BJP has now been exposed to the public. Now the BJP will be gone forever. Condemnable.'
Time of India
17 minutes ago
- Time of India
Congress – singing the tune of Pakistan
Keshav Upadhye, a young, dynamic and prominent face, has been working with the Bharatiya Janata Party for over two decades. In 2014, the then state president Devendra Fadnavis had appointed Upadhye as the spokesperson in his team. Owing to his journalistic background and better understanding of the socio-economic issues of the state, Upadhye made a mark as a spokesperson in a short span. He articulates the views of the party and aggressively defends the party on various platforms including the Marathi and Hindi national news channels. Keshav Upadhye worked for the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and after completing his degree in Journalism from Ranade Institute, Pune, he began his career as a journalist with daily Pudhari, Loksatta and Mumbai Tarun Bharat. Knowing the pulse of the news, he writes on varied topics and on various platforms like the newspapers, blogs and other social media platforms. He was involved in two study groups formed by the Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini in 2006 to study the naxalite movement and its adverse impact on the development of Chhatisgarh. The Prabodhini later published this report. He was also a part of the Prabodhini's fact-finding committee formed to study the Solapur riots. LESS ... MORE Parliament recently held a discussion on 'Operation Sindoor', a joint operation by the Indian armed forces against terrorist outfits in Pakistan. Entire opposition including Congress were consistently demanding a discussion in Parliament on this issue. Congress' prince Rahul Gandhi and his sidekicks were also alleging that the government is not ready to discuss this subject in the parliament. The Modi government refuted the opposition's allegation by discussing this issue in detail. Rahul Gandhi's objection that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not speaking a word on this matter also turned out to be totally false. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also shed light in detail on various aspects related to 'Operation Sindoor' and the subsequent developments. This helped expose Congress' pro Pakistan stand in front of the nation once again. Congress' prince, while speaking in Lok Sabha, questioned why the action by armed forces against Pakistan was stopped and also bragged that the bravery and courage should have been shown like his grandmother Indira Gandhi. There is absolutely no doubt that Mrs Indira Gandhi showed the courage of breaking Bangladesh from Pakistan and making it an independent nation in 1971. Jan Sangh, the main opposition party at that time, had given its complete support to Indira Gandhi. The world could see the proud picture of the entire opposition standing in solidarity behind Indira Gandhi. The same picture was expected during the time of 'Operation Sindoor'. However, the behaviour of opposition parties over the last eleven years has shown time and again that they do not hesitate to take even an anti-national stand just to oppose Modi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi completely exposed the Congress' stand during his speech in the Lok Sabha. Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, while speaking on this matter in Rajya Sabha, showed another example of his love for Pakistan by raising a question 'Why do you assume that they came from Pakistan?' At the same time Praniti Shinde, daughter of another senior Congress leader and former Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, while making her point in Lok Sabha insulted the Indian armed forces by calling 'Operation Sindoor' a 'Tamasha' performed only for the media. She revealed Congress' traditional love for Pakistan by blatantly lying that the government is not giving information on how many terrorists were killed in 'Operation Sindoor'. In the press conference held immediately after 'Operation Sindoor', the Indian armed forces had clearly stated that the only purpose behind this operation was to destroy terrorist camps in Pakistan. In this operation India targeted 4 terrorist camps located 100 km inside Pakistan and destroyed 5 camps in POK with great precision. Officials of the Indian armed forces had informed in a press conference in New Delhi that the bases of the terrorist organizations Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba have been destroyed. Despite that, a public representative like Praniti Shinde in Lok Sabha by asking questions like 'what exactly was achieved by this operation' and calling 'Operation Sindoor' a 'Tamasha', cast a doubt on the actions of the Indian armed forces. Congress has this old habit of insulting the armed forces. Pakistan launched missile attacks targeting civilian settlements in India after 'Operation Sindoor'. However, the Indian armed forces repelled all these attacks. After that the Indian armed forces showed its strength by targeting army bases in Pakistan. Terrified by these attacks, Pakistan pleaded with India to stop the attacks. The Indian armed forces had also clearly stated that they have temporarily stopped 'Operation Sindoor' at Pakistan's request as the aim of teaching Pakistan a lesson had been achieved. Leaders of the ruling party, ministers at centre were not briefing the media throughout this period. All the briefings regarding this operation, losses suffered by Pakistan in this operation were officially done by representatives of the Indian armed forces itself. A modern technique of PowerPoint presentation was used while sharing information about this operation. In spite of this Congress leaders have no shame in doubting the bravery of the Indian armed forces by making statements like what was achieved through 'Operation Sindoor' at the supreme level like Lok Sabha. Few days back, Rahul Gandhi had demanded information on the number of aircrafts shot down by Pakistan in 'Operation Sindoor'. The Indian armed forces had already given a clear explanation on this. Pakistan's Prime Minister had made the ridiculous claim that their army had shot down Indian planes. However, the government of Pakistan failed to provide a single evidence of this. Instead of demanding information about the damage done to Pakistan, Rahul Gandhi was asking for the information on the number of Indian aircrafts that were shot down. Today, Rahul Gandhi is making childish remarks like asking why 'Operation Sindoor' was stopped?, Modi Government lacks courage to take action against Pakistan, but he will conveniently forget that no action was taken against Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks in 2008 despite the readiness of Indian armed forces only because of the weak stand taken by Sonia Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi also forgot that his grandmother unconditionally released over one lakh Pakistani soldiers. The prince is even oblivious to the fact that he is speaking the language of Pakistan just to oppose Modi and BJP. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
India.com
17 minutes ago
- India.com
Trump Repeats Claim Of Brokering Ceasefire Between India, Pakistan
US President Donald Trump reiterated his claims of mediating the recent ceasefire between India and Pakistan as well as helping to resolve several other global conflicts. Trump on Sunday took to his social media, slamming American radio host and author Charlamagne Tha God. He said that the author knows nothing about him and what he has done, including ending '5 wars'. 'Like just ending 5 Wars, including a 31-year bloodbath between the Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, where Seven Million people have died, and there was no end in sight. He didn't know that, or India and Pakistan or wiping out Iran's nuclear capabilities, or closing the horrendous open Border, or creating the greatest economy,' Trump posted on Truth Social. The latest remarks came days after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt asserted that the US President ended several conflicts around the world, including the one between India and Pakistan, during his six months in office and therefore should be awarded the coveted Nobel Peace Prize. 'The President has now ended conflicts between Thailand and Cambodia, Israel and Iran, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India and Pakistan, Serbia and Kosovo, and Egypt and Ethiopia. This means President Trump has brokered, on average, about one peace deal or ceasefire per month during his six months in office. It is well past time that President Trump was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize,' she said at a White House press briefing. Last week, during a Rajya Sabha debate on Operation Sindoor, External Affairs Minister (EAM) categorically stated that no phone conversations occurred between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Trump between April 22 and June 16. Addressing concerns raised during the discussion, Jaishankar also underlined India's unwavering policy against third-party mediation in its dealings with Pakistan. He reiterated that any dialogue must be strictly bilateral and contingent upon formal communication through the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMO). 'When Operation Sindoor was initiated, several countries reached out to understand the situation,' the EAM said. 'We conveyed a consistent message - we were not open to any external mediation. Any issue between India and Pakistan would be settled bilaterally. We were responding to an attack, and that response would continue unless Pakistan formally requested a cessation of hostilities through the appropriate military channel,' he added.
