The pain in Kashmir's heart needs to be healed: Mehbooba Mufti

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on 19 April addressed a public rally after inauguration of Shri Vaishno Devi Narayana Superspeciality Hospital located in Katra, 32km from Jammu.

Listing several key issues, the state's first woman CM said there is a "pain in the heart of Kashmir" which requires immediate attention so that it can be healed. 

The inauguration event was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jammu and Kashmir governor NN Vohra along with some Union and state ministers.

"In Pakistan, the government is fighting against its own people... Sunni kills Shia and vice-versa. I am proud to live in a nation where people from different religions live in peace and harmony but there is a pain. There is a pain in heart of Kashmir and we all have to heal it together. We need to heal it so that the youth of Kashmir flourish like those in rest of the country," Mufti said.

Referring to the recent killings in Handwara town of north Kashmir, she expressed hope that under the leadership of the Prime Minister, her government will be able to restore peace in the state.

She recalled a conversation she had with her late father Mufti Mohammed Sayeed during the alliance talks between the PDP and BJP. The CM said that he had then told her, "I have held the hand of a person who has been made the Prime Minister of the country by crores of people."

- With PTI inputs