Srinagar, Aug 16: Senior separatist leader Shabir Shah today welcomed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's statement inviting Pakistan to walk with India on the road to peace. "We welcome the Prime Minister's statement," he said in a statement here. Shah, who heads the Democratic Freedom Party, accused the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government in Jammu and Kashmir of failing to protect the lives and properties of the people of the state. Alleging that the situation in the state was "deteriorating" day by day, he said the effect of "improving friendship between India and Pakistan should have been felt in Jammu and Kashmir the most" but it was not so.

Shah accused the Chief Minister of being "against the peace process in the sub-continent."
"There is contradiction between the words and deeds of Mufti," he added. Bureau Report