SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti, has expressed grave concern over the spurt in active hostilities between Indian and Pakistani troops, and said a “painful and distressing” situation is prevailing along the borders in Jammu region. She called to end the hostilities to safeguard the lives and properties of the people caught in the deadly crossfire.
The chief minister in a statement issued here on Wednesday said, “It is the life and property and sense of security of the people of J&K, which are in the line of fire and every bullet or a mortar shell fired hits only the residents of this state on either side.”
Four more civilians were killed and more than thirty injured in Samba-Kathua-Jammu belt of the International Border (IB) with Pakistan on Wednesday, prompting over forty thousand border-dwellers to flee to safer locations.
Ms Mufti said, it was painful to see everyday loss of precious human lives, destruction of properties and large-scale migration in border areas of the state, due to the hostile situation prevailing along the borders.
“The terrible images of an eight-month old child with bullet wounds on his body are perhaps not enough to shake the conscience of the humanity in the region and put an end to this senseless bloodletting,” she said.
She added that both the countries shall have to put an end to this hostility to safeguard the lives of the people.
Stressing the need for building a strong peace initiative from within the state, she said, more than a decade and a half back, the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in an impressive display of statesmanship had opened a new chapter in the blood-soaked history of India and Pakistan, by responding to the urge for peace and dignified resolution during his historic visit to Srinagar in 2003.
“The people of the state especially those living in border areas had experienced an entirely new-found peace and environment of security after the 2003 ceasefire with Pakistan,” she said.
