Srinagar, Feb 04: Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assertion that “they will break the back of militancy in Kashmir”, CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yususf Tarigami Monday said “the genesis of the militancy in Kashmir is essentially political alienation, which he (PM) didn’t touch.”
In a press statement here, Tarigami said CPI(M) has been consistently emphasizing that violence is not an answer to the unrest in Kashmir as it only leads to death and destruction.
“What are the roots of the militancy need to be understood first! So many times, in the last three-decades announcements were made that militancy has been controlled. Then wherefrom it has been erupting time and again?” Tarigami asked.
He said the reality is that the Kashmir unrest is due to the deep-rooted alienation and faulty policies pursued by the successive governments, especially since the present BJP-led dispensation came into power in 2014.
“By making such statements, Modi is trying to mislead the people of the country. Clearly the BJP government is seeking to use the J&K situation to supplement its campaign of deepening communal polarization in the run-up to the general elections,” Tarigami said.
He said no substantive initiative was taken by the government to start “genuine political dialogue which would have enabled it to talk to stakeholders to find out solution to this vexed problem. Relying exclusively on the use of disproportionate force has proved as adding fuel to the fire.”
In 2014, he said, there was a huge democratic participation of the people in elections but what happened thereafter? “Why, for the last almost three years, elections could not be held in south Kashmir’s Lok Sabha seat? This is a question that is still to be answered,” former legislator from Kulgam said.
He said “unfortunately, BJP-led government is looking at the Kashmir issue from the narrow prism of security only and treating it merely either the cross-border issue or law and order problem.
“What is urgently required is not to follow the beaten tracks of repeated denials. The bold political initiative to reach to the common people can only be a way forward to address the issues,” he said.
