Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks with all parties on the Kashmir issue on Friday, said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday. The leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Gulam Nabi Azad had attacked Modi for not addressing the issue in Parliament.
The unrest in Kashmir began after Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burhan Wani was shot dead by security forces on July 8, 2016. Massive protests were carried out in the state, following which security forces used pellet guns to contain the crowds. However, more than 50 people died and many were injured or blinded in the process. The Government of India has been receiving flak from neighbouring Pakistan and from within India on the use of force in Jammu and Kashmir.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that "the freedom that every Indian has also belongs to every Kashmiri. We want the same bright future for every youth in Kashmir" during a rally in Madhya Pradesh. Modi had emphasised that they were following former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's idea of "insaniyat, jamhooriyat & kashmiriyat."
The House on Wednesday passed a unanimous resolution urging for peace and harmony in the Valley. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury had asked that dialogue be added to the resolution, to which Singh said it would.
"The House expresses sympathy to those affected. The House also urges steps to be taken to stop the violence quickly," Singh read out a statement on behalf of the Rajya Sabha.
Singh also said that the security forces have been told to use "maximum restraint" when using pellet guns.
No power on earth can snatch Kashmir from us. We will not speak to them [Pakistan] on Kashmir, we will speak to them on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir," Singh said when asked about Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's move to ask for a plebiscite for Kashmir in the United Nations.
He also said that there will be no President's rule in Kashmir neither will it be handed over the Army.
Modi's meeting with all parties will come at a crucial juncture with the NDA government having finished half its term in power and their administrative abilities being questioned. The official meeting would quell the apprehensions that other parties have about the government's policy on Kashmir.
