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Basharat Peer in Srinagar
Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said if there ever was a party that could find a lasting solution to the Kashmir tangle it's the Congress.
"Congress wants a political solution to the problem and would make honest efforts towards this end," Sonia told a 1000-strong crowd in Sher-e-Kashmir cricket stadium ground in downtown Srinagar.
Before her arrival, a motley crowd of men and women, ferried by busloads from various parts of the Valley, danced to drumbeats shouting pro-Congess and anti-National Conference slogans.
"Gun is no answer to a problem. The only way out is dialogue. If the Congress is voted to power, we will enter into a dialogue to solve the Kashmir problem," she added.
With whom? She did not specify.
Attacking the ruling National Conference government in the state and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, she said both had failed to address the Kashmir problem.
"The National Conference has kept you in dark about the real issues and [it] talks about more rights to the Kashmiri people only because the elections are close," Sonia said in an obvious reference to the NC's autonomy demand.
The Congress president said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's campaign for trifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir only helps in encouraging secessionist elements in the state.
"The BJP and the RSS are spreading hatred throughout the country. Under no circumstances would the division of the state be allowed. Our Constitution gives enough space to accommodate the aspirations of all ethnic and religious groups," she said.
She said uniformity in development of Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir regions would be an ideal counter to the trifurcation demand.
Cheered by the small but enthusiastic crowd, Sonia recalled Nehru family's Kashmiri origins. She reminded the gathering what her late husband, former prime minister Rajeev Gandhi, had said in 1983: "Delhi does not rule over Kashmir, its Kashmiris who rule over India."
Talking about the composite Kashmiri culture, she put the onus of the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley on Kashmiri Muslims. "No government order can bring the Pandits back. They will return when you make them feel you want them back," she said.
Referring to the death and destruction in the Valley over the past 13 years, Sonia said: "I know your wounds are deep. I understand your pain. I have lost my husband and mother-in-law to such mindless violence and I know how it feels."
Winding up her speech, Sonia congratulated Kashmiris for turning out in large numbers in the first phase of election.
And as she prepared to leave for the airport, a paralytic youth, pushing his lower body with his feeble arms, was seen trying to reach the Congress president. In his hand was an application for a tri-cycle. The security personnel stopped the man metres away from Sonia's car.
A local Congress activist took the neatly typed application from Mushtaq Ahmed, 26, and left him with a promise.
"They said we will see," Mushtaq, who had travelled 20 km to meet Sonia, told this correspondent.
ALSO SEE: Sonia calls for a 'final solution' to Kashmir problem
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