Kashmir Valley Needs Dialogue, Not Bullets

Jammu and Kashmir has been on the boil for a long time. First the NIT student protests, then the firing in Handwara on protestors, are not isolated events but the consequence of what has been happening in the state for sometime. These incidents also happened just after Mehbooba Mufti Sayeed formed a government in alliance with the BJP. The youth seem today, increasingly disillusioned in Kashmir with the state and central governments. Are we going back to the past? 

In this context, Newsclick interviewed Seema Mustafa, Editor-in-Chief, The Citizen. Ms Mustafa said, the fundamentalist forces cannot provide any solution to the Kashmir issue. The BJP government at the centre is trying to limit the discourse to only development, without addressing the political issues. This limited approach will not work. She said that we also need to recognise that, Kashmir is a border state, therefore it cannot be equated to any other state in the country.

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