Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged the youth of Jammu and Kashmir who have “lost their way” to return to the mainstream, PTI reported. Modi began his one-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir by arriving in Leh district.
He unveiled the plaque to commence work for the Zojila tunnel to provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh, reported The Indian Express. The 14-km-long Zojila tunnel will be India’s longest road tunnel and Asia’s longest bi-directional tunnel.
“There is no substitute for peace [and] stability,” he said in Srinagar, according to ANI. “I urge the youth who have lost their way to return to the mainstream.” He was in Srinagar to inaugurate the 330 MW Kishanganga Hydropower Station. Modi will also lay the foundation stone of 42.1km Srinagar Ring Road that will link Galandar in West Srinagar to Sumbal in Badnipora district, reported The Times of India.
Modi said “every stone, every weapon raised by youngsters” destabilises Jammu and Kashmir. “The state will have to opt out of this environment of instability. For the future, for the generations to come, they have to join the mainstream of India’s development, not just Kashmir.”
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti thanked Modi for the unilateral ceasefire during Ramzan. “We expected that we will get the same response from Pakistan but unfortunately we didn’t.”
Meanwhile, All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was detained on Saturday when he defied house arrest and tried to march towards Lal Chowk in Srinagar during Modi’s visit to the state, reported The Indian Express. Policemen waiting outside his house took Farooq into preventive custody and shifted him to the Nigeen Police Station.
During his address to a gathering at Jamia Masjid on Friday, Farooq had said the government should allow the people to assemble at Lal Chowk so that they can convey their ‘Mann ki Baat’ to the prime minister during his visit. “It’s just three words – Resolve Kashmir Dispute,” he tweeted.
Separatists had called for a shutdown and will protest in Srinagar against Modi’s visit.
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