CB BureauAddressing a meeting of the
Congress Parliamentary Party in New Delhi, today, Congress president
Sonia Gandhi said that there was a need to reach out to the people of Kashmir and
that was possible only by addressing the anger and pain through talks and
mutual understanding.
‘Kashmir has a very special
place in the party’s polity and the people of the state are our own and their
suffering is ours’, said Gandhi.
Expressing condolences to every
family that has lost its loved ones, Gandhi said, ‘Violence and tensions in
recent weeks have been disturbing and I am anguished at what has been happening
there… I feel their grief.’
Gandhi said that reaching out to
the people of the state, most particularly to the youth, is the need of the
hour, and the anger and pain that is manifesting itself, especially among the
young, needs to be addressed, immediately.
She emphasised that ‘dialogue and mutual understanding are the key to
ending the cycle of violence and tragic killings.’
It is to be noted that the last
two months Kashmir has witnessed a cycle of violence wherein people have been protesting
by pelting stones at police and paramilitary forces. In retaliation, forces
have been firing and have already killed 50 people.