Amnesty provided to 9000 youth in J-K: Mehbooba Mufti

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said that the Jammu and Kashmir Government has given amnesty to 9000 youth in the state.

Sharing this information on her Twitter account on Wednesday, Mufti said that the amnesty has been provided in order to bring long-term normalcy to the state.

"We have granted amnesty to over 9000 youth from J&K in an effort to bring back long-term stability to the state. Rehabilitation & reconciliation is the only way forward," Mufti tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Mufti announced a grant of amnesty against youth involved in various cases during the unrest of 2016 in the assembly.

Mufti said she directed the withdrawal of cases against 4,327 youth recently and even constituted a committee to review the cases against youth registered during the unrest of 2016.

"I am happy that we have decided to grant amnesty to them also, roughly making it to around 9000 youth," she said.

Mehbooba said that the state's development will be hindered if it did not show faith in the Indian constitution.

"If we don't believe in the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, if we don't believe in the country's Constitution, then what do we believe in? Then what are you going to get? Where will you get anything from?" she asked.

"Ours is the most empowered assembly in the country. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented in the entire nation at once, except Jammu and Kashmir, where it was implemented only after a proper debate in this assembly", she added.

Mufti further stated that she wants to put it on record that whatever the people of Jammu and Kashmir would get, they would get it only from India and nowhere else.

Mufti's statement comes days after she, in an open plea, requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan to bury the hatchet and become friends for the sake of the locals and jawans on the border.