The Hindu : Give up the gun, Mufti tells militants

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 13, 2003

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Other States - Jammu & Kashmir

Give up the gun, Mufti tells militants

By Our Staff Reporter

Jammu July 12. The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister has once again asked the militants to shun the gun as now they do not have any cause or justification for it in the changed scenario. Addressing a series of public meetings at Gool, Mahore, Budhal and Koteranka, the Mufti said, ``when India and Pakistan are moving towards normalisation of relations and working for restoration of peace, what is the justification for militants to shed the blood of innocents.''

He asked the people to counsel misguided youth and said that over 13,000 innocent civilians had been killed by these senseless elements. ``Those hands which should have held books and pens, came to hold guns which played havoc not only with their lives but with the entire social milieu of the State,'' he regretted.

Stating that the long spell of militancy had created a vested interest, the Mufti questioned Pakistan's propaganda describing the people of the State as `captives of the security forces' and asserted that `we are free people exercising our free rights'.

He said the recent elections had demonstrated the free will of the people who had demonstrated that they could decide the fate of the Governments.

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