JK left alone by the country: Mehbooba

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said the state has been left alone by the country to deal with the difficult situation it is going through.

The chief minister made the remarks while addressing the 64th convention and exhibition of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) here.

"Jammu and Kashmir is going through difficult times. It has affected tourism not only in Kashmir but also in Jammu. If you look globally, there are problems everywhere. However, our problem is that the country has also left us alone.

"Our job is very tough. There are many ways to deal with the situation but we are using only one way, which is to fight the gun with a gun. The wounds inflicted in the process also need to be treated and if anyone can treat those wounds, it is the people of the country, it is you," Mehbooba Mufti said.

The chief minister invoked her late father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who, she said, would always say that tourists visiting Kashmir were an investment in peace.

"My father would always say when a tourist visits us, it is an investment in peace. An Army jawan fights militancy and guards the border, that is one way of fighting. The other way is by addressing the alienation," she said.

Mehbooba Mufti said Jammu and Kashmir is the crown of the country but in the past few years it has lost its sheen.

"We have natural beauty, cultural diversity and languages ... not even entire country has so much diversity as much exists here alone. This might be the reason that the almighty has kept us at the top, in the form of the crown," she said.

The chief minister said the state was today going through difficult times and blamed the TV news channels for exaggerating it, which scares away the people from other parts of the country from visiting the state.

"TV news channels have created such a perception as if entire Jammu and Kashmir is on fire. That is not the truth ... I have no hesitation in saying that Kashmir is the safest place for women in the country," she added.