Decision a welcome change: Mehbooba

Decision a welcome change: Mehbooba

SRINAGAR, Feb 11: The government’s decision to give amnesty to Kashmiri militants who are in Pakistan is a “welcome change,” Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti said on Thursday after the government expressed its willingness to welcome those guerrillas who want to surrender. “It is a welcome change,” Mufti said in a statement. She hoped the government will consider other similar decisions that will help in winning the hearts and minds of the people in the troubled State. “I hope other demands –– like revocation of draconian laws like the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and demilitarization –– will also be fulfilled to normalize the situation in the State,” the statement added. “Keeping in view the prevailing situation in the Kashmir Valley, there was a dire need to take some more such steps to heal the wounds of the people.”