Srinagar, Nov 11: J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, said on Monday that peace would return to the violence-torn region if the people are treated well.

Sayeed took power in the Indian zone of the divided province on November 2 and immediately vowed to provide a "healing touch" by releasing prisoners and reining in security forces. "If people are treated well and justice dispensed, peace will gradually dawn on the state," Sayeed said in a statement on Monday.


"There will be hardly any scope for elements inimical to peace to exploit the masses."


Sayeed said he did not immediately shake up the state administration, as is traditional in India, because he was waiting to see "the performance of each officer."
But he said he was committed to a "clean administration" that would "be accountable at all the levels."


"The change must be reflected at the ground level for which the people have voted vehemently in the recent elections," he said. Bureau Report