Modi government wants unrest in Kashmir to continue: Yechury

Yechury said Modi government wants to project Kashmis issue as a communal problem.

Kolkata, May 5: CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Friday held the Narendra Modi government responsible for the turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir and accused the BJP of "trying to reap political dividends" out of the situation in that state.

"It is the Narendra Modi government that is solely responsible for the ongoing turmoil in Kashmir. Last year, an all-party delegation had gone to Kashmir and put forward suggestions to normalise the situation such as confidence- building measures, putting an end to the use of pellet guns by security forces and a dialogue with all the stakeholders," he told reporters on the sidelines of a programme.

Yechury claimed that in the last six months, the BJP government did not start the process of dialogue with the stakeholders, which further complicated the prevailing explosive situation in the state.

"The government had agreed on it (dialogue). But, nothing happened in the last six months. They did not start the dialogue. So, it is the government which is to blame," he said.

Yechury accused the BJP government of "keeping the Kashmir problem alive to reap political and communal benefits".

"They want the unrest to continue at least till 2019 (Lok Sabha polls), so that they can reap political and communal dividends. They want to project the unrest as a Hindu-Muslim issue," he said.

PTI