J&K situation being demonised by outside media: Governor

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Wednesday said that the media outside the state was demonising the situation in Kashmir, causing a lot of hardship to the local people.

Addressing the media here, Malik said: "In my state (Uttar Pradesh), every day people are killed. Tourists are looted on the Meerut highway daily. There is no news about these incidents. But even if a hat falls here, the Kashmiris are demonised."

The Governor expressed satisfaction at the peaceful conclusion of the Lok Sabha elections in the state and said he was proud of the people for that.

However, he regretted that the mainstream political parties failed to persuade people to vote in the Lok Sabha polls. "I can ask them what has been the percentage of voting in these elections? They (mainstream parties) have failed to get the people to vote," he said.

About the Panchayat elections in the state, Malik said: "I tried my best to persuade local parties to participate in Panchayat elections, but they did not agree. We conducted those elections to empower the people at the grassroots."

Speaking about militancy, the Governor -- who heads the anti-militancy grid called the Unified Headquarters in the state -- said: "Pakistan is in trouble. It is fatigued, it has started realising that it cannot break India, and yet it will keep doing certain things.

"Militant training camps are still active there, but we are neutralising militants and new recruitments are also down."

--IANS

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