Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday welcomed Army Chief General Bipin Rawat’s statement over the Kashmir issue and said that this was the expression of the current sentiment in the state.

Public Works Minister Naeem Akhtar said that the announcement was a welcome sign which coincided with a similar assertion made by General Rawat’s Pakistani counterpart, General Javed Bajwa, and it is the same sentiment being felt by the common people of J&K. The valley has seen long bloodshed spanning about three decades.

In a recently made a comment, General Rawat said that the radicalized youth of the valley would soon realize that the gun was not a solution to their problem because neither security forces nor terrorists would be able to achieve their goals through it.

According to his assertion, peace was the only way to improve the current situation in Kashmir that had been witnessing militancy for about three decades now.

Mr Akhtar is also a government spokesman, and he said that he had been in the present coalition government’s persistent endeavour right from the beginning to see that the people of the state are pulled out of the quagmire of death and destruction.

It is now for all the responsible people to join this new moment of peace and reconciliation through emerging positive discourse although they might have differing political ideologies, he said.

According to Mr Akhtar, the people who want to settle their political score through gun must realize that when violence enters a discourse, it is just lives that will be destroyed, but along with that the social fabric, the economy, the culture and civilization of the society is also damaged.

There is a no solution with a gun around the world and dialogue, and reconciliation can only be the way forward, he said, while adding that there was a strong need to build on the Army Chief’s statement and strengthen the process by initiation more political measures and engaging every section of the society in order to ensure sustainable peace in the state, he said.

A dignified peace through reconciliation, he said, was the only solution to the problems faced by the valley people that have witnessed death and destruction for about three decades now.

You May Also Read: Russia Not To Delay Response Against US Sanctions: Deputy FM