Talks with Pakistan must to stop bloodshed, says Mehbooba Mufti

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday called for talks with Pakistan, saying there was no other option to stop the "bloodshed" in the state.

The Chief Minister's appeal comes amid a spurt in militant violence in the state as well as unending border clashes between Indian and Pakistani armies.

In a tweet, Mufti said that dialogue with Pakistan was necessary to end bloodshed and war was not an option.

" I know I will be labelled anti-national by news anchors tonight but that doesn't matter. The people of J&K are suffering. We have to talk because war is not an option," she added.

Speaking in the state assembly, later in the day, Mehbooba hit out at some media houses for labelling those favoring dialogues with Pakistan as "anti-nationals".

"Unfortunately, some media houses have created an atmosphere that if we talk of dialogue (with Pakistan) then we are labelled anti-national," said Mufti.

"We fought and won all wars against Pakistan but even now there is no solution other than dialogue, till when will our jawans and civilians keep dying," Mufti said in the J&K assembly on Monday.

The chief minister's appeal for dialogue comes as the restive state reels from a terror attack on an Army camp in Jammu's Sunjuwan, which left five soldiers and a civilian dead and 10 others wounded.

Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba claimed responsibility for the attack, and also for the attempted infiltration of the Karan Nagar CRPF camp, where one jawan lost his life in a gunbattle with the ultras.

OneIndia News