PANAJI, Dec 15:
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today asked the media to get Kashmiris closer to the rest of India rather than adding “fuel to the fire”.
She was speaking at the three-day-long “India Ideas Conclave 2017” organised by the India Foundation here.
She said the media kept abusing and accusing separatists but at the same time kept getting them on television giving them TV time to spew venom.
“I don’t know why do they do it. Is it because of TRPs? Media should help us to get Kashmir out of the present situation and not add fuel to the fire,” she said.
She said that some sections of the media pick up the “most rotten” person from the State who speaks against the country.
“They pick up a guy who is not known to anyone, no Kashmiri knows him. They put him on television and then they get someone to combat him. They give him that kind of space on television,” she said.
“And these two are fighting and Kashmiris and other countrymen watch them. The other countrymen feel that this Kashmiri is talking bad about the country so Kashmiris are bad. And the Kashmiris feel that other fellow is accusing Kashmir,” she said.
“Media should play a role in bringing Kashmiris and the rest of the country closer to each other. They should pick up people who talk nice things about the country,” she added.
She said that Kashmiriyat is reflected in the acts of the people of Kashmir. “You can get the proof of Kashmiriyat in the acts of people who rushed to help Amarnath yatris (when they were attacked),” she said.
“That time large number of people went to hospital to donate blood. Last year when there was an accident, people took passengers to their houses. This is what Kashmiris are basically,” she said.
The three-day conclave was inaugurated in presence of former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, Union Minister of State for external Affairs M J Akbar, Minister of State from the United Arab Emirates Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Mehbooba said her Government was also helping the Kashmiri Pandits who did not migrate, so that they don’t feel as if they paid a price for staying back.
She was speaking about her Government’s efforts to rehabilitate Kashmiri Pandits who migrated on a large scale after the insurgency began in the State.
“My father, in the year 2002, started building transit accommodations for Kashmiri Pandits. Now we are trying to add more accommodations to those places,” she said, responding to a question during an interaction.
“As far as Kashmiri Pandits are concerned, I have met many of them and they feel more comfortable in the places where they have started living in last five to 10 years,” she said.
“So we are already on the job, and we are not only getting back Kashmiri Pandits but we are also trying to rehabilitate the people who are already staying there,” the Chief Minister said.
“Kashmiri Pandits who are living here (who didn’t leave the State despite the insurgency) also need attention.
“We are also trying to give them jobs, so that they don’t pay the penalty of staying back,” she said.
Lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits left Kashmir after insurgency began in the Himalayan State in the early 1990s. (PTI)
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