Kashmir will gain only from India, no one (read Pak) else: Mehbooba Mufti

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, on Wednesday said that the people of the restive state will "gain" only from India and not from anywhere else, an obvious reference to Pakistan.

"If we are not agreeing with the J&K Constitution and Indian Constitution, then what do we believe in? What would you gain from such a stance?", she asked while speaking in the state Assembly currently in its budget session in winter capital Jammu.

She said, “Today, I would like to bring on record that the people of the state would gain from only India and not from anywhere else.”

She urged the youth of Kashmir to shun the path of violence and respect the Indian Constitution and that of the state. She also said that the state Assembly is the most empowered one in the country.

"Ours is the most empowered assembly in the country. Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented in entire country at once except Jammu and Kashmir where it was implemented only after proper debate in this Assembly," she said.

She said that utmost care has to be taken so that Kashmir issue is not highlighted as a religious one more particularly because the religious diversity is the strength of the people of the State.

She, once again, appealed to India and Pakistan to resume dialogue so that the ongoing bloodshed in Jammu and Kashmir comes to an end.

"Resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan is the only way forward to end the bloodshed in Kashmir," she said.

Referring to the growing trend among the Kashmiri youth to join the militants’ ranks, she said the same was the offshoot of previous government’s policies and actions and said that care has to be taken so that the youth taking violent path does not become a challenge for the governments in future.

Mufti said Kashmiri for which Kashmir is known is visible in Kashmir and missing in Jammu and alleged that opposition parties are talking different languages in Srinagar and Jammu.

She hoped that Mannan Bashir Wani, the AMU scholar who has joined Hizb-ul-Mujahedin, will pay heed to the calls of return being made by his family, friends and fellow students.