UN chief urges Pakistan, India to defuse tension

UNITED NATIONS/KOLKATA: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is monitoring the worsening situation in Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) especially reports about tightening restrictions and mass arrests as he called for steps to defuse tension between India and Pakistan, his spokesman said. While Bengal CM slammed BJP-led government on using brute force in Indian Held Kashmir.

“We obviously continue to follow the situation very closely in Jammu and Kashmir and also reports of restrictions and detentions in the Indian administered side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in response to a question about Monday’s meeting between US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France.

The Secretary General reiterates what he has been saying both publicly and privately to India and Pakistan to their leaders to exercise restraint and to take whatever steps they can to defuse tensions, he added.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused the BJP-led central government of using brute force to silence the voices of dissent in the Kashmir Valley.

Banerjee also said that important institutions of the country are being headed by retired bureaucrats who are acting as yes men of the government. “What is going on in Kashmir? The government is using brute force to scuffle all voices of dissent in the Valley,” she said while addressing a student rally here.

Banerjee dared the Centre to arrest her for raising her voice against the government asserting that she will not bow down before the BJP.

All the institutions are headed by retired persons who have no accountability. They are just following orders of the government like yes men, the CM said while addressing a rally here.

The country is heading towards a presidential form of government and there will be no place for democracy, Banerjee said.

“The central government is either threatening opposition leaders or buying them out with money. It is after Bengal now as we are opposing its policies and divisive politics,” she added.