Mehbooba Mufti appeals to Jammu-Kashmir youth to lay down arms, present views peacefully

At a PDP party function in Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti said, `If you speak langauge of guns you`ll be killed & you`ll gain nothing.`

New Delhi: PDP president and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti on Monday (April 12) appealed to the youth of the state and asked them to lay down their weapons and present their views peacefull. She also asserted that her party will continue to struggle for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's special status.

"Nobody will understand the language of weapons. If you present your views peacefully, the world will listen to you. If you speak langauge of guns you'll be killed & you'll gain nothing. I appeal to J&K youth to leave weapons & talk. They'll have to listen one day," the PDP Chief said, according to news agency ANI.

She also spoke about the restoration of the state's special status and said, "We ask our nation to give us back what was snatched away from us. If you want people of J&K, you'll have to reinstate our honour. There's no other way. I say this to my country. Why does BJP get angry when I say it? Will I ask from Pakistan?"

The former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said the special status to the erstwhile state was given by the Constitution of India.

The PDP chief said India and Pakistan will have to hold talks for resolving their outstanding issues, including the problem of Jammu and Kashmir. "One day the two countries have to sit together to resolve all the outstanding issues if they want peace in the region," she said.

Mufti said the SAARC summit should be held so that the issues between the two neighbouring countries are resolved.

"I hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi goes to Pakistan for the summit.... As (former prime minister) A B Vajpayee had said, we can change friends, but we cannot change neighbours," she added.