Srinagar: Union Minister Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said the attack on separatist leader Fazal Haq Qureshi showed elements with negative approach were not interested in welfare of the people.
"The assassination bid on Qureshi proves that elements
with negative approach have no interest in the welfare of the
people. They want to fill the graveyard to keep their identity
alive," he said.
The New and Rewnewable Energy Minister, however, added
the situation in Jammu and Kashmir was fast-changing and "the
designs of negative elements will be scuttled".
He said talks were the only way to resolve the Kashmir
issue, but added any solution should meet aspirations of the
people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
Such a solution should also guarantee friendship
between India and Pakistan, the head of the ruling National
Conference in Jammu and Kashmir, said.
Abdullah said the on-going dialogue process was part of
the exercise initiated by his father late Sheikh Mohammad
Abdullah during his visit to Pakistan in 1964.
The Minister was speaking at the graveyard of Sheikh
Abdullah, the first J&K chief minister, at Naseem Bagh on
the outskirts of the city on his 104th birth anniversary.
Qureshi, a moderate face of the separatists, was shot at
by militants of Al-Nasreen outfit outside a mosque here last
evening in what is seen as an attempt to sabotage the talks.
Al-Nasreen is believed to be a front of Pakistan-based
Lashkar-e-Taiba.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, December 05, 2009, 18:57