Srinagar: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on April 19 said the people who
supported militancy in Kashmir were against the basic ethos of Kashmiri culture and
Sufi Islam.
"An objective examination of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir will reveal that
those who support militancy in the state are against the basic ethos of Kashmiri
culture of peace, brotherhood and friendship," he said at a convocation ceremony of
Kashmir University.
Appealing to the people to shun gun culture, Vajpayee quoted a famous Kashmiri
philosopher, who had said, "Do not divide Hindus and Muslims."
Quoting extensively eminent philosophers and poets, he said it was the
responsibility of intelligentsia, mass media, artists and political workers to
highlight communal harmony and national unity in Kashmir and in the rest of the
country.
The Prime Minister lauded the people of Kashmir for coming out in good numbers to
express the power of Democracy and said the Centre had fulfilled its promise of
holding free and fair elections in the state.
Stating that vested interests were seeking to project the elections in a different
light, Vajpayee said, "It was forgotten for some time that Democracy can be
subjected to manipulation."
There is no issue that cannot be solved peacefully in a Democracy, he said asking
the people to look to the future.
He assured them that their demand for more institutions of higher education would
receive a sympathetic consideration and regretted that there was only one university
for such a huge population.
However, Vajpayee was pleased that more and more students of the state were enrolled
in other educational institutions of the country.
"I would like Ministry of Human Resources Development and other non-governmental
educational institutions to open up more avenues for these students," he
added.
Vajpayee had the 1,000-odd audience at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention
Centre enthralled with his 15-minute speech as he quoted famous Kashmiri poets
Mehjoor and Lalla Ded in Kashmiri.
PTI
