Operation sindoor's impact on border residents in j&k cannot be ignored: mehbooba mufti - the statesman

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said that she cannot say what has been achieved from ‘Operation Sindoor’, but the people living near the Line of Control (LoC) and the International

Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir have suffered massively. “I don’t know what else has been achieved, but those terrorists who massacred 26 innocent civilians in Pahalgam are still at large.

They have not been nabbed till now,” she said, claiming, “External Affairs Minister has said that he had warned Pakistan before India attacked the targets there, and so when you warned them,

it may have given the terrorists an opportunity to escape. For me, the achievement is zero”. Advertisement “War is not a solution, and those advocating war should come and live with their

families in the border areas. That will give them a realisation of what war actually is. War is a solution to nothing. We have casualties on both sides. That is the interest we have to pay

for the war,” she said. Advertisement She said war is not even a last resort, and the Centre should take a page from former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s doctrine. “They will find a

solution there”. Mehbooba, who was talking to mediapersons in Srinagar, in response to a question about the BJP saying that the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, was

taking a “pro-Pakistan line”, said those who question the BJP were dubbed as anti-nationals. “India is a great country, India is a nation. The BJP is not the nation, so I do not think that

questioning the BJP is anti-national or pro-Pakistani,” she said. On the demand that the shelling hit people be provided individual bunkers for their safety during the war, she said it does

not look right to demand such things in the 21st century in the first place, when people should be demanding better schools and universities. The Centre should think if it wants to keep the

people thinking about war all the time, she said. Mehbooba urged the government to declare areas affected by Pakistan’s shelling in Jammu and Kashmir as “war-impacted zones” and give the

status of martyr to those who lost their lives during the skirmishes. The PDP chief said she visited several areas near the LoC and IB to get a first-hand account of the impact on the lives

of the people in the wake of shelling from across. “I request that all these areas be declared as war-impacted zones, so that the work on their rehabilitation is taken up on a war-footing”.

She also demanded that the families whose houses were destroyed in the shelling be provided Rs 50 lakh each to support them in rebuilding their homes. Jobs should also be provided to the

next of kin of the deceased, she added. Mehbooba said that the shelling has left a trail of destruction in several areas like Poonch, Uri, Tangdhar, and some parts of Kupwara. It has

devastated families, destroyed houses, and other properties. Some people still haven’t got even tents to live in, and are living under an open sky. She sought the intervention of the

government as banks were refusing to provide insurance to those whose shops had been damaged. Advertisement