Vajpayee promises people of Kashmir that better days are ahead
Speaking from behind bullet-proof glass and amid tight security, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee told a cheering crowd of about 10,000, mostly supporters of the state government bussed in from villages, violence was no answer.
“All issues should be settled through talks,” he said in a brief speech that appeared conciliatory to both Pakistan and Kashmiri groups in the first public address by an Indian prime minister in the Kashmir valley in more than 15 years.
“We are ready... (to discuss) both internal and external problems. Guns will not solve the matter but brotherhood will.
“We again extend the hand of friendship but it has to be a two-way road. Both sides should decide to live together,” he said, adding it was now up to Pakistan to respond.
India has said it will talk with Pakistan only after Islamabad ends support for Muslim militants fighting New Delhi’s rule in Kashmir in a 13-year rebellion that has killed more than 38,000 people, many of them civilians.
As hundreds of heavily armed police and soldiers in battle gear guarded the Sher-e-Kashmir (Lion of Kashmir) stadium where Vajpayee spoke, many supporters in the audience shouted in Urdu: “We want peace with dignity”.
