Jammu and Kashmir town pledges to abstain from stone-pelting

More than 3,000 residents of Langate in the border district of Kupwara took oath before the Centre’s interlocutors on Wednesday to abstain from stone-pelting.

“We take pledge that we will not throw stones. But it has to be reciprocated by the Centre. They have to take pledge that they won’t kill us while seeking resolution of the Kashmir issue. If you still shower bullets on us, we will march from Langate to parliament and Red Fort. If you don’t respect and reciprocate our pledge, we will be forced to launch an agitation,” local MLA Er Abdul Rasheed thundered, evoking a “we do” chorus from the crowd.

Men and women, young and old had started marching to the school where the interlocutors were to arrive since morning. “We have lost everything. Violence is no solution. Time has come to solve this issue peacefully,” Ghulam Mohidin, a villager, said.

For Rasheed, the large gathering was nothing short of a personal victory since separatists have boycotted the interlocutors. “It is the first such rally and I can say with all humility that even [chief minister] Omar Abdullah cannot gather such a crowd,” he said.

Rasheed called for talks with militants. “We may not agree with their ideology but we can’t ignore them. There cannot be any solution without their involvement. All of them were not unemployed or illiterate, most of them picked up gun because all other ways failed,” he said.