SRINAGAR: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India is incomplete without Kashmiriyat as he paid visit to occupied Srinagar amid curfew and shutdown on Saturday.
"Without Kashmir, India is incomplete. This is the land that gave birth to Sufism, which taught us to bring everyone together. No matter how much the world advances, without humanity, we are nowhere. Jamuriyat, Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat - these are essential," Modi said while speaking in Srinagar amid intense security.
The Indian premier announced $12 billion in financial assistance to Indian occupied Kashmir, more than a year after deadly floods devastated parts of the disputed Himalayan region.
"To fulfil these dreams, the Indian government is announcing an 80,000 crore rupee ($12.1 billion) package to Jammu and Kashmir," Modi told a crowd at a public rally in Srinagar, as authorities imposed a curfew for the second day running.
Srinagar was hardest hit after the rain-swollen River Jhelum burst its banks in September 2014 leaving thousands stranded.
The flood killed 300 people and caused an estimated $16 billion worth of damage, with thousands of homes and large tracts of farmland ruined, according to official data.
Modi steered clear of politics in his speech in the disputed region, prompting opposition leader Omar Abdullah to react sharply.
"PM Modi has made the same mistake of weighing the Kashmir issue in Rupees & Paise!!!!," Abdullah, the former chief minister of the state tweeted.
Security was beefed up ahead of Modi's visit, with the region already tense following incidents of religious intolerance and attacks on minorities in many parts of India.
In the run up to the prime minister's appearance, police cracked down on pro-freedom activists who had called for a counter-rally near the venue, arresting more than 300 of them and confining top leaders to their homes.
Top Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani, who tried to lead a protest march against Modi's rally in Srinagar, said economic packages have not resolved the dispute over Kashmir in the past.
"Modi's visit and the economic package will not change anything, like in the past," he told reporters outside his residence where a large group of police prevented him from leaving his home. –Samaa/Agencies
SRINAGAR: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India is incomplete without Kashmiriyat as he paid visit to occupied Srinagar amid curfew and shutdown on Saturday.
"Without Kashmir, India is incomplete. This is the land that gave birth to Sufism, which taught us to bring everyone together. No matter how much the world advances, without humanity, we are nowhere. Jamuriyat, Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat - these are essential," Modi said while speaking in Srinagar amid intense security.
The Indian premier announced $12 billion in financial assistance to Indian occupied Kashmir, more than a year after deadly floods devastated parts of the disputed Himalayan region.
"To fulfil these dreams, the Indian government is announcing an 80,000 crore rupee ($12.1 billion) package to Jammu and Kashmir," Modi told a crowd at a public rally in Srinagar, as authorities imposed a curfew for the second day running.
Srinagar was hardest hit after the rain-swollen River Jhelum burst its banks in September 2014 leaving thousands stranded.
The flood killed 300 people and caused an estimated $16 billion worth of damage, with thousands of homes and large tracts of farmland ruined, according to official data.
Modi steered clear of politics in his speech in the disputed region, prompting opposition leader Omar Abdullah to react sharply.
"PM Modi has made the same mistake of weighing the Kashmir issue in Rupees & Paise!!!!," Abdullah, the former chief minister of the state tweeted.
Security was beefed up ahead of Modi's visit, with the region already tense following incidents of religious intolerance and attacks on minorities in many parts of India.
In the run up to the prime minister's appearance, police cracked down on pro-freedom activists who had called for a counter-rally near the venue, arresting more than 300 of them and confining top leaders to their homes.
Top Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani, who tried to lead a protest march against Modi's rally in Srinagar, said economic packages have not resolved the dispute over Kashmir in the past.
"Modi's visit and the economic package will not change anything, like in the past," he told reporters outside his residence where a large group of police prevented him from leaving his home. –Samaa/Agencies
