Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti today praised the people of Jammu for upholding the tenets of harmony, inclusive sense, amity and brotherhood despite severe provocations and defeating the evil designs of miscreants.Speaking at the civic reception hosted in honour of the visiting President, Ram Nath Kovind, the Chief Minister said Jammuites during the toughest phases of past thirty years or so stood up for the tolerant values for which the State has been known since ages. She said when many people left Kashmir Valley, the people of Jammu not only opened their homes and hearths for them but also shared their resources, supplies and other facilities. Everyone-Gujjars, Paharis, Pandits, Muslims-got space here and are living without any apprehension. “It’s a rare example of amity which hardly finds any parallels in contemporary world”, she added.Referring to the rape and murder of a young girl at Kathua, Mehbooba Mufti said she was humbled to see the vehemence with which every section of local society including students, women, children, aged stood up demanding justice for the victim. “They stood up for justice, irrespective of religious affiliations, for the girl whom they said was their own daughter. I salute them for this and for defeating the nefarious designs of vested elements”, she said in her speech.
Sharing the concern of the President on the said incident earlier in the day, the Chief Minister said her Government is duty bound to provide justice to the victim in the case. She said the whole country looks upto Judiciary now to provide speedy justice in the case so that guilty is punished. “Even the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi termed the incident shameful and sought punishment to the guilty”, she said in her speech.Mehbooba Mufti thanked the President for visiting the State and hoped that he would visit the State again.Governor, N N Vohra also spoke on the civic reception.Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, during his welcome address expressed gratitude to the President for accepting state’s invitation. He said that people will benefit from this opportunity to interact with the President and learn from his vast experience.The civic reception was attended by First Lady, Savita Kovind; Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar; Speaker, Legislative Assembly, Kavinder Gupta; Chairman, Legislative Council, Haji Anayat Ali; Judges of the High Court; Former Chief Minister, Dr. Farooq Abdullah; members of council of Ministers; MPs; legislators, Chief Secretary, B B Vyas; DGP, Dr. S P Vaid; senior civil and Police officers and members of civil society.