London: Despite the recent killing of 24 Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir, the
state government will continue with its 'healing touch' policy, Chief Minister Mufti
Mohammad Sayeed said.
Describing the March 24 massacre as a "conspiracy" by enemies of the country to
derail the 'healing touch' policy, Mufti said, "the enemy does not want us to carry
on with our work. This is a setback for us. But this does not mean that whatever our
strategy and line of action is, we stop that.
"We have to go ahead with the policy of healing touch that we have evolved, to
improve the situation."
Replying to questions last night (Mar 30) in the BBC World Service's Hindi weekly
phone-in programme 'Aapki Baat BBC Ke Saath', he dismissed the allegation that he
was soft on militants for withdrawing POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) and
disbanding of the Special Operations Group (SOG).
"Before our government came to power, POTA and SOG were very much there, then why
did the incidents in Wandhama, Chattisinghpura and Prankote take place? In fact
ever since we came to power, such incidents have come down in the past five to six
months," he said.
Drawing a parallel with the ongoing war in Iraq, the Chief Minister said, "Look at
Iraq, the people there are defying the American and British attacks with force.
People
cannot be won over by the use of bullet and force. The only answer is to talk."
PTI
