New Delhi, August 19
Terming the latest developments in Kashmir valley as a “call to our collective conscience”, UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi today said reaching out to the people of the region, particularly the youth, was the need of the hour.

Sonia said the anger and pain of the Kashmiris needed to be addressed through dialogue. “Dialogue and mutual understanding are the key to ending the cycle of tragic killings,” she said, referring to the violence that has claimed 50 lives in the past two months in the Valley.

Expressing that "Kashmir had a special place in our polity", she said the people of the state were “our very own and their suffering is ours”.

Addressing a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Cabinet colleagues were also present, she spoke on important issues facing the nation, including the controversy surrounding the Commonwealth Games and the situation in Kashmir.

Breaking her silence on alleged irregularities in preparation for forthcoming Commonwealth Games, Sonia said the charges would be probed after the event and the guilty, if any, would be penalised.

The Congress chief made it clear that the government would look into the allegations of malpractices, a warning perhaps for embattled CWG organising committee chief and Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi.