No solution other than dialogue with Pakistan: Mehbooba Mufti

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday called for a dialogue with Pakistan amid the increase in ceasefire violations by the country and a rise in terrorist activity in the state.

Mehbooba Mufti said on Twitter that she would be "labelled anti-national by news anchors" for her views.

Dialogue with Pakistan is necessary if we are to end bloodshed. I know I will be labelled anti-national by news anchors tonight but that doesn’t matter. The people of J&K are suffering. We have to talk because war is not an option.

The Jammu and Kashmir chief minister made similar remarks in the state assembly, stating that there was no solution other than dialogue with Pakistan. She blamed "some media houses" of creating an atmosphere of being labelled anti-national if one mooted talks with Pakistan.

Mehbooba Mufti also invoked former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Lahore bus journey to Pakistan in 1999 and said that she wondered "what some media houses would have called Atalji if he took bus to Lahore in today's time and talked of dialogue."

"Unfortunately, some media houses have created an atmosphere that if we talk of dialogue (with Pakistan) then we are labelled anti-national," Mehbooba Mufti said the in state assembly. 

"We fought and won all wars against Pakistan but even now today there is no solution other than dialogue, till when will our jawans and civilians keep dying. Wonder what some media houses would have called Atalji if he took bus to Lahore in today's time and talked of dialogue"

(With inputs from ANI)