The Hindu : National : Ensure no innocent Kashmiri is harassed: Azad

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 14, 2006

National

National

Ensure no innocent Kashmiri is harassed: Azad

Shujaat Bukhari

Writes to Chief Ministers of 11 States

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has urged his counterparts in 11 States to consult the Director-General of Police and the ADGP (CID) here before taking action against Kashmiris.He has written to Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Shiv Raj Singh (Madhya Pradesh), Jayalalithaa (Tamil Nadu), Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (West Bengal), Mulayam Singh Yadav (Uttar Pradesh), H.D. Kumaraswamy (Karnataka), Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (Andhra Pradesh), Sheela Dikshit (Delhi), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Vasundhara Raje Scindia (Rajasthan) and Vilasrao Deshmukh (Maharashtra).

Mr. Azad said the Chief Ministers should ensure that no innocent citizen from the Valley, particularly traders and students, was harassed on the pretext of questioning in the event of any terrorist act in their States.

Businessmen, traders and students of J&K in various States "have greatly helped in strengthening the integration of the country. As such, all States are required to treat them with honour and respectand without causing them inconvenience particularly on the pretext of questioning whenever any incident takes place in any part of the country."

Mr. Azad said a fairly good number of businessmen and traders settled down in commercial centres and established themselves to earn a reasonable livelihood. "This outflow has helped to contribute to the economic regeneration of the State, which has suffered a lot in the backdrop of 16 years turmoil."

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