Srinagar Aug 21: The PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has regretted the attempts to malign Kashmir society through unfounded theories of threat to minorities.
In a statement here she said the reports of unidentified threat letters to Sikh community have caused pain and anger throughout the Valley as these are widely viewed as part of deliberate campaign to demonize a population that is itself, including the minorities, is facing threat to life and an assault on dignity.
Mehbooba said it is painful to see national level debates on obviously inspired reports that could create serious doubts about the intentions and character of Kashmiris in rest of the country.
 She said while Kashmir is still to come to terms with the loss of its principal minority and is waiting for their return the apprehensions being created about Sikhs are following a pattern to demonize it us further.
 Referring to glowing traditions of secularism and tolerance of Kashmir, Mehbooba said even in adversity we have not abandoned it. She said any country would feel proud of the smoothness of Amarnath Yatra in highly disturbed conditions. While Kashmir lost more than 60 young people to government bullets since June, hundreds facing life long disability, thousands in jails and life completely out of gear the only thing that continues to move in Kashmir is the Yatra she said.
 Many of the half a million yatris were provided medical assistance by local NGOs even while the hospitals here found themselves unequal to the immense emergencies she said and regretted that no media channels even mentioned this even as they lapped up unfounded and unsubstantiated threat stories with relish.
 At a time when successful conduct of yatra with the help of a deeply wounded local society should have made headlines something designed to erase it has cropped up from nowhere, she said.
 Mehbooba appreciated the stand of the community leaders of Sikhs who categorically refused to take the bait. She said even the representative of the local Pandit community had unequivocally stated that there was no truth to the stories.
 Mehbooba said Muslims and Sikhs have lived for centuries without any problems even in remotest areas and are helpful to each other. By trying to sow seeds of suspicion nobody is making a positive contribution to the situation here and hoped that the bonds between the communities would further strengthen in the face of conspiracies against our traditional harmony. “We have always come out with our best as a people in adversity and we including our minorities shall prove that this time as well” Mehbooba asserted.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 21 Aug 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
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