Deal With Kashmir Situation With Iron Hand: BJP To State Government

Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the BJP has asked the state government to deal with the current situation in the Kashmir Valley decisively and with an "iron hand."

State BJP spokesperson Virender Gupta said on Monday that there is no option for the government other than meeting the challenge posed by the separatists and terrorists "supported by Pakistan" decisively and with an iron hand otherwise the situation will deteriorate further and it may not be possible to bring back normalcy in the Valley. The BJP co-governs Jammu and Kashmir with the PDP.

"At present the morale of the state police, CRPF and other security forces have gone down because of the recent happenings where lot of restrictions have been imposed on them," Mr Gupta said.

Kashmir has been under curfew for an unprecedented 31 days since the unrest that began after the death of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani. Nearly 60 people have died in the clashes since then; over 3000 have been injured.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in Delhi to discuss situation in Kashmir on Monday. "Hope PM will address the unrest in Kashmir... Try to heal wounds, start talks to keep up Vajpayee ji's Jammu and Kashmir initiative," Ms Mufti said after the two-and-a-half hour meet.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi met with the Home Minister and National Security Adviser to discuss the situation in the valley.

22-year-old Burhan Wani, a top commander of terror group Hizbul Mujahideen, was shot by security forces on July 8. Thousands of people have since defied curfew to attend his funeral and demonstrate against security forces, who point out that hundreds of their own soldiers have also been injured in the clashes that have become a deadly daily feature.