Mayawati demands President's rule in J-K

New Delhi, Aug 12: BSP today demanded dismissal of the Omar Abdullah government in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it had failed to curb the violence in Kishtwar.

"J-K government should be dismissed and President's rule should be imposed in the state," BSP chief Mayawati said outside Parliament House. Blaming the state government for the violence in Kishtwar, Mayawati said, "We condemn the incident. The state should have taken action on the first day itself. The incident took place due to the negligence of the state government.

"The Centre has a role in ensuring peace in J-K. It should order a high-level enquiry into the (violence)," she added. Directing her ire against the J-K Minister of State for Home Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo, she said,

"It is the Home Minister's responsibility to ensure law and order in the state. He is also from Kishtwar. On the day of the violence, he was in Kishtwar. "Had he wanted to stop the violence he could have done that. But many shops were burnt and scores of people were hurt in the clashes," she added.

Stressing on the need to quickly restore the troubled areas to normalcy, Mayawati said, "Our party's district president's son was killed in the violence. Situation is bad there and now seven districts are under curfew. But curfew won't solve the problem."

Referring to the judicial inquiry ordered into the incident by the J-K CM, Mayawati said that such inquiries generally go into cold storage. "It (inquiry) should be time-bound and culprits should be punished. Anti-social and communal elements are involved in the violence," she stressed.

Talking about the recent instances of violation of the ceasefire in the forward areas of J-K, Mayawati said that the Centre should take steps to deal with the firing at the border, while calling for a need to strengthen the Intelligence wing.

PTI