Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 29: PDP president and Member Parliament Mehbooba Mufti today alleged that both Islamabad and Delhi are responsible for the tension along borders in Jammu region.
Talking to media-persons here today, Ms Mehbooba said that in view of ceasefire violations and continuous firing along borders for the last several weeks, the people of J&K are being made scapegoats. The people of this border belt are the sufferers and falling victim to the bullets from that side. Both the countries should act in mature manner over the issue of ceasefire violations, as ultimately, people are the victims.
Ms Mehbooba who paid extensive visit to the affected border villages in RS Pura and Bishnah alleged that both New Delhi and Islamabad were responsible for the situation along the border. Both sides should display sense of maturity and for satisfying `ego’, they should not set aside the dialogue process. Ultimately, dialogue is the most powerful process to resolve issues, she maintained.
The PDP leader said India should strongly take up with Pakistan the issue of ceasefire violations and both the countries should act in a “mature” manner. The PDP MP also appealed to the Centre to hold the Defence Ministers of both sides responsible for maintaining the ceasefire.
“Both the Governments do not know about problems (faced by people) in border areas in the wake of ceasefire violations,” she said.
“It (ceasefire) was the biggest gift to J&K by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. I salute him for his vision and courage. The sanctity of border truce should be restored,” she added.
Ms Mehbooba said she was “disappointed” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “not working” on the lines of Vajpayee’s agenda.
She said the cancellation of Indo-Pak foreign secretary-level talks by the Government was an “immature” step as the meetings between separatists and Pakistan leaders was nothing new.
The PDP leader said that NDA Government at the Centre has kept provision of Rs 3000 crore in the Budget for the development of border areas under BADP. Majority of the funds have been diverted to Rajasthan and Gujarat. If the people in the Government in Delhi have love for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, as they claim, they must provide adequate funds for the development of border area in the region. The affected people from RS Pura, Suchetgarh, Bishnah and other belts really deserve adequate funds, she added.
Replying to a question, she said that during interaction with the affected people most of them demanded accommodation at safer places. The Government must make arrangements for the rehabilitation of these border villagers at safer places and even go for providing them land. But it is more important to resolve the issue through dialogue by both the sides. She said during Atal Behari Vajpayee regime the cease-fire violations had come to an end.
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