Chidambaram blames Centre's 'maximalist' stance for unrest in Valley

Former finance minister P. Chidambaram on Sunday took to Twitter to stress on the prevailing instability in the Kashmir Valley and blamed the Centre for aggravating the problem by taking "a maximalist position."

"On many occasions in the past I had cautioned that the Kashmir issue or problem (or by whatever name it is called) was a festering wound. The people of the Kashmir Valley are caught between the two maximalist positions. Just as the militants have taken a maximalist position that has to be rejected out of hand. The Central government has taken a maximalist position that has aggravated the problem. The casualties are the people of J&K (especially those in the Valley) and the future of the state," Chidambaram said in a series of tweets.

The Congress leader's tweets come a day after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti pointed out that the instability in the Valley is not due to a lack of law and order, but due to few external dimensions, while also urging the entire nation to come together to resolve the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.

"The instability in J-K is due to external dimensions, where our neighbouring country is also involved. There are internal dimensions too and they have been there for the past 70 years. I think these issues will only get resolved if all the parties come together and the entire nation stands together as they are doing in the matter of China," she said.

A meeting with the Opposition parties was held earlier last week by the Centre to apprise them with the veracity of the Amarnath terror attack, following which Director General Press Information Bureau (PIB) Frank Noronha said that all parties condemned the attack and assured support to the government in the regard.

The terrorist attack on Amarnath pilgrims in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on July 10 in which seven pilgrims lost their lives and 15 others were injured.

Apart from this, there have been constant reports of stone-pelting and infiltration from across the border in the state, which have aggravated the situation there.

The Opposition has been blaming the Centre over their "inaction" towards resolving the issues of the Valley, which encourages the separatists to resort to their ways to infuse chaos in the state.