Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 23: Stating that Jammu and Kashmir has suffered too much for too long because of slanging match for electoral gains, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today called for a political will and broader national consensus to address the Kashmir issue.
“Instead of indulging in ludicrous melodramatics and rhetoric for votes, country’s political leadership should work through tangible measures towards larger political resolution of the Kashmir issue,” Mufti said while addressing series of election rallies in Banihal, Doda, Bhaderwah and Kishtwar Assembly segments of Chenab valley region.
He said along with working through political means and implementing an economic development agenda, Government of India must engage with the people of the State to find a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue and the issues confronting J&K. “The country’s leadership must take note of the sentiment of peace and democratic spirit emanating from Jammu and Kashmir and accord it the respect it deserves,” he said and added that the Centre must address issues concerning the State with a sense of urgency, sincerity and seriousness by resuming the dialogue process not only with Pakistan but with all the stakeholders, within the State as well, including the separatists.
“I hope the Government of India will take the necessary measures to address the causes of alienation and trust deficit in Kashmir and work towards finding a long-lasting solution to the problem plaguing the region for the past more than six decades,” Mufti said and added that the time has come to allow the political and democratic forces in the State to assert themselves as a matter of right and not a concession. “That is of fundamental importance to allow the democratic institutions of the State to grow and flourish,” he said and added that elements of sanity, common sense and pragmatism should be picked up to strike a new benchmark in the State in light of the global and sub-continental realities.
“Time has come to fully retrieve the people of Jammu and Kashmir, with honour and dignity intact, from the political uncertainties and economic deprivation plaguing their State for the past more than six decades,” he said and added that in its brief tenure of three years in governance, amid difficult circumstances, PDP did what others couldn’t achieve in decades. “Give us six years with a decisive mandate and I promise that we will transform Jammu and Kashmir into peaceful and prosperous State,” he told the gathering.
PDP Patron asserted that the party would continue its struggle for the restoration of the political and economic rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. “PDP views with satisfaction the growing concord of the people with the party’s progressive and inclusive political and economic agenda for J&K,” he said.
Mufti said PDP’s vision is to harness J&K’s diversity of continental proportions, from the arid deserts of Ladakh through the greenest Asian Valley of Kashmir to the subtropical Jammu as a great potential for the State’s socio-economic growth. “On behalf of all of us in the PDP, who have been working and dreaming really big new dreams for our people, I am asking for your support, for your partnership, and for your confidence to move forward. I hope all of you will be with us in the new era that is going to begin in every nook and corner of Jammu and Kashmir in 2015,” he said.
Mufti said gifted with immense natural resources including water, forests and minerals, Chenab valley region has been till now benefitting other parts of the State. “If PDP gets the mandate, we will transform the area by using its resources to create employment and wealth for its inhabitants,” he said.
Senior party leaders, Peer Mohammad Hussain, Dr Haseeb A Drabu, Bashir Ahmad Rouniyal (candidate Banihal constituency), Mehboob Iqbal (candidate Baderwah constituency), Dr Abdul Majid Bhat (candidate Inderwal) and Firdous Tak (candidate for Kishtwar constituency) were also present and spoke on the occasion.
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