Violence being orchestrated by some forces in the Valley, says Mehbooba

Facing flak over the growing unrest, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said the violence and stone pelting is being orchestrated by some forces that are hell-bent to vitiate the atmosphere in the valley.

"Many forces have joined hands to vitiate the atmosphere and send innocent children to various localities to create trouble. Those who have other ideology should also feel the pain of the younger generation getting affected. What do they want to achieve by this (violence)?" Mehbooba asked.

Chief minister had to cut sorry figure when some parents shouted slogans during her visit to the examination center at Government Women College MA road here to take stock of the arrangements made for the students appearing in Common Entrance Test for MBBS and engineering courses.

"Instead of asking the Kashmiri youth to focus on education, they are being incited to take stones in their hands and attack whosoever comes their way. A 70-year-old poor street vendor who wants to earn the bread and butter for his starving family is being slapped by a 10-year old boy. Young girls are being threatened that they will be immolated if they ride scooties (two wheelers). People wearing decent clothes are being intimidated," she said.

Calling for dialogue Mehbooba said violence has been rejected globally as a means to achieve political objectives. "The proponents of violent protests in Kashmir must also engage in dialogue to resolve the issues instead of perpetuating violence which has only brought death and destruction on their own people. Kashmir has already lost a generation of youth to the violence and can't afford to bear with this tragic human loss forever," she said.

Invoking her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, she said former chief minister always used to say that bullets and grenades cannot solve issues dialogue is the only alternative.
"Gun has not changed anything. There is no way out other than dialogue. Security forces have been able to contain the situation but there is an issue in the minds of the people which needs to be addressed. We brought in security forces and they contained the situation. But there is an issue which is in the minds. It has to be addressed," she said.

Earlier, 16315 candidates appeared for CET at the designated examination centers in Srinagar and Jammu. Amid curfew and shutdown 10803 candidates appeared in the test in the Kashmir valley alone.

Sensing the difficulties, the Jammu and Kashmir government had kept transport available at district headquarters to ferry the students. Some students in far flung areas of sensitive south Kashmir had to board the buses in the night to avoid protestors and stone pelting mobs to reach Srinagar for tests.

"Despite facing various hardships because of the prevailing law and order situation, the government machinery ensured almost 91% presence of students in CET", said Mehbooba.