If govt. can talk to Taliban, why not to Kashmiri youth, asks Shahi Imam

New Delhi: Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari has raised some basic questions over the Indian government’s move of sharing the stage with the Taliban at a “non-official level” in Moscow. He asked why cannot then the Union government led by Narendra Modi have a similar talk with non-mainstream leaders in India’s Jammu and Kashmir. He said the Narendra Modi government has a duality of approach to problems in Afghanistan and Kashmir.

It must be noted that talks are being initiated in Moscow to find a solution to the political imbroglio in Afghanistan after some fifteen years of continuous warfare. The talks now underway involve many countries. The Narendra Modi government has chosen to send a “non-official” Indian delegation to assist with the talks.

Imam Bukhari said, it is ironical that India showed the willingness to have talks with Taliban, but feels shy of talking to the Kashmiri dissidents at home.

Shahi Imam said if Maoists or other terrorist groups commit a crime, even if over 70 people are killed in that, still they are not called terrorists. They are called Maoist or by the name of their organisations, but an offence is done by the people of a particular community they are dubbed as terrorists. Not only this, but terrorism is linked with Islam and Muslims.