Mehbooba again appeals for calm in Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday appealed for calm in the Kashmir Valley as she paid tributes to the martyrs of the 1931 struggle against the Dogra rule.

"I appeal to everybody to restore calm and peace so that further loss of lives is avoided," the Chief Minister said.

She said "the loss of precious lives" in firing by security forces since the killing of a top militant on July 8 was "regretted but nothing can bring them back.

"While I am deeply grieved, my grief cannot match that of the families who have lost their near and dear ones," Mehbooba Mufti said.

Under heavy security, the Peoples Democratic Party leader went to the graveyard at Naqashband Sahib area of Old Srinagar where a guard of honour was presented to her.

An uneasy calm prevails in largely curfew-bound Kashmir Valley where violent street clashes erupted after the killing of a militant commander, Burhan Wani, leaving over 30 people dead and hundreds injured.

Mehbooba Mufti laid a wreath at the graveyard to commemorate those killed by the Dogra Maharaja's soldiers on this day in 1931 outside the Central Jail in Srinagar.

People had stormed the jail during the trial of Abdul Qadeer Khan, an Afghan cook of a British official. Qadeer had been arrested for delivering a fiery speech in support of the Kashmiris.

--IANS

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