New Delhi: Rattled by the popular unrest and the alarming number of deaths of civilians in Kashmir following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideens South Kashmir commander Burhan Wani, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will soon visit the state to personally take stock of the situation, online portal thequint.com reported on Tuesday
The Centres effort will be that Modi visit the state before July 18 when the monsoon session of Parliament is scheduled to begin.
The decision that Modi will visit Kashmir was taken at a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and attended, among others, by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval earlier on Tuesday.
While the Centre failed to assess the magnitude of the upsurge once Wani was taken out by the security forces on Saturday and took no step to contain the violence, Tuesdays meeting in Delhi also concluded that the Modi government would not hold an all-party meeting on the Kashmir situation, as its predecessor Congress led UPA did during a similar situation in 2010.
The rationale for this decision is backed by the evaluation that the opposition, especially the Congress and the National Conference might put the Centre on the mat.
More importantly, the high level meeting took a political decision that could have far-reaching consequences for Jammu and Kashmir at a time when it continues to be rocked by violence and anti-government sentiments among its people.
The top leadership of the Modi government took the decision to mount an offensive against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
By blaming the PDP for being unable to contain the violence, the Centre intends to deflect attention for its own failures in reading the situation and taking corrective steps, observers said. This could have serious political implications in terms of the fate of the BJPs alliance with the PDP and could signal the end of the short-lived tie-up.
Equally important for Modi will be the healing touch strategy. He issued instructions at todays meeting to ensure that the security forces exercise maximum restraint, handle cremations of dead protestors with care, and respect the religious sentiments of the people.
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