Jammu-Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti took to Twitter to express grief at the death of a tourist from Tamil Nadu on Monday after he suffered head injuries in a stone-pelting incident.
The CM, who had met the family of the victim on Monday night, said she had no words to even condole the family.
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“It’s truly heartbreaking when a family saves for years to realise their dream of visiting Kashmir & while they are here they face their worst nightmare. I have no words strong enough to condemn this tragic incident or even begin to condole the family,” she wrote.
Mufti then reiterated her call for dialogue to end the spiralling cycle of violence in her state.
“Without a sustained, meaningful dialogue & outreach, not just from the govt but from the entire country, J&K will get pushed deeper into this vortex of gloom. My deepest condolences to the deceased’s family & my prayers go out to the girl who was injured in the same incident,” she wrote.
Following her meeting with the family members of the victim on Monday, Mufti said, “My head hangs in shame.”
Read More: J-K: Tourist from TN killed in stone pelting; CM says her head hangs in shame
The tourist, identified as R Thirumani, 22, son of Rajwali, of Chennai was injured when stone-pelters attacked a tourist vehicle in Narbal area on Srinagar-Gulmarg road.
He was shifted to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, but succumbed to critical injuries on Monday evening.
Mufti visited the SKIMS hospital immediately after she was informed that the tourist had passed away.
National Conference working president Omar Abdullah, too, condemned the incident.
“We’ve killed a tourist by throwing stones at the vehicle he was travelling in. Let’s try and wrap our heads around the fact that we stoned a tourist, a guest, to death while we glorify these stone pelters & their methods,” he wrote on Twitter.
“This young man from Chennai died in my constituency & while I don’t support these goons, their methods or their ideology I’m deeply, deeply sorry that this happened at all & that too in an area I’ve been proud to represent since 2014,” he added.
Abdullah then attacked the BJP-PDP alliance.
“The J&K Govt has failed, the CM has failed, the BJP-PDP alliance has failed. How much blood will have to be shed in Kashmir before the Hon PM realises the gravity of the situation in J&K? When will enough finally be enough?” he wrote.
On Tuesday, Congress leader P Chidambaram took to Twitter to urge Mufti to break the “unholy alliance” of her party with the BJP.
He said Mufti should “break her party’s unholy and opportunistic coalition with the BJP and go back to the philosophy of her father”, referring to former CM, the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Read More: Break ‘unholy’ coalition, go back to people: Chidambaram tells Mehbooba Mufti
“The central government’s muscular, militaristic approach to the J&K issue has driven the State towards the present catastrophic situation,” Chidambaram accused the NDA government at the Centre led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
