Change visible in J&K, our visit eye-opener, says Envoy
Sinha seeks global support in shaping new future for J&K
Foreign delegation meets CJ, DDC, ULB members, others
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Feb 18: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has said that Assembly elections will be held in free and fair manner in Jammu and Kashmir after the Delimitation Commission completes its exercise while one of the 24 Envoys, who visited here today on second and last day of their visit to the Union Territory, remarked that change is visible in J&K and described their visit as an eye opener.
Sinha reportedly assured that once the Delimitation Commission completes its exercise for delimitation of constituencies, the Assembly elections will be conducted in a free and fair manner.
“The delimitation process is on. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have assured the country that after the delimitation process is completed, the Assembly elections will be held. After the Commission finishes its work, I assure, elections will be conducted in a fair and free manner,” he said.
In Vote of Thanks after 24 Envoys met Sinha at the Raj Bhavan here in presence of Advisors and top brass of civil and police administration, Eritrea Ambassador Alem Tsehaye Woldermariam remarked that change is visible in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The envoys’ visit to Jammu and Kashmir is an eye opener and improved the understanding of important issues concerning Jammu and Kashmir,” Woldermariam said.
In his address, the Lieutenant Governor termed terrorism as biggest enemy of human-kind and without naming Pakistan said that despite relentless attempts by our neighbour to destabilize security situation and trigger social disharmony by exporting terror, the Government is resolute towards holistic and equitable development of Jammu and Kashmir.
He sought support from the global community in shaping a new future for Jammu and Kashmir.
“Years of suffering for Jammu and Kashmir people ended on August 5, 2019 (when special status of erstwhile State was abrogated and it was bifurcated into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh). The efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ushered the Union Territory into a new era, which has brought about socio-economic development in the region and empowerment of the people,” the Lieutenant Governor said.
The envoys also met Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Justice Pankaj Mithal.
Replying to the queries by French ambassador Emmanuel Lenain and Ambassador of Senegal Abdoul Wahab Haidara pertaining to the economic development and investment friendly reforms, the Lt Governor observed that a new Industrial Development Scheme of Rs 28,400 crore has been unveiled for attracting investment in the UT, besides creating opportunities for the youth.
“Various incentives are being offered to the investors across the globe,” he said, adding earlier, a mega relief and revival package of Rs 1,350 crore was announced to help the J&K business sector to tide over their problems.
On being asked about the developmental measures taken by the government, the Lt Governor observed that the central and the UT governments are determined to preserve and create prosperity in J&K.
“Peace, Progress, Prosperity and People First — that is my vision for development of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
In Sinha’s meeting with envoys, Advisors-Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Farooq Khan and Baseer Khan, Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam, Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh, the Financial Commissioners and Administrative Secretaries of the Jammu and Kashmir Government were also present.
Meanwhile, visiting envoys in Jammu met representatives of various civil society groups and elected Panchayat and Urban Local Bodies (ULB) members here to get a first-hand appraisal of the situation during the recently held DDC elections — the first democratic exercise in Jammu and Kashmir post the nullification of Article 370.
Representatives of West Pakistani Refugees and Balmiki Samaj, the two communities who were deprived of voting rights over the past seven decades and voted for the first time in the local elections, briefed the envoys about their experience, officials said.
“We briefed them about the establishment of the three-tier Panchayati raj and implementation of the 74th amendment. While the elections to Panchayats was held for the fourth time in J-K compared to 14 times in rest of the country, the implementation of the 74th amendment of the constitution after 28 years was possible only after the abrogation of the Article 370,” Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) Mayor Chander Mohan Gupta told reporters.
Vice president of West Pakistani Refugees Sukhdev Singh Manhas said, “I told them what we have been subjected to discrimination over the past 73 years under the garb of Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution.”
“This was for the first time we voted in the local elections and for that we are thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. The post August 5 2019 development gave us rights and now we can vote, contest elections, avail government jobs and own properties,” he said.
Echoing Manhas, Valmiki Samaj representatives — Akash Kumar and Vanisha — said they told the envoys that the foremost benefit which they saw after the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 was that the community took part in the District Development Council (DDC) elections held in November-December last year for the first time.
Vandana, a BJP Sarpanch, said the envoys were very curious to know about the response of the people during election campaigning.
“We told them that the people are happy with the development which gave us a full-fledged Panchayat system including 33 percent reservation to women,” she said, adding the people overwhelmingly voted in the democratic exercise to choose their representatives.
DDC member Rajinder Sharma from Rajouri highlighted the issues of Pahari community and thanked the Central Government for granting four percent reservation in public sector employment and admission to educational and professional institutions.
“The past Governments ignored the community, which constitutes 9 percent of the total population of J-K with majority of them being Muslims,” he said.
Another DDC member from Rajouri Mohammad Iqbal Malik said Article 370 was a “huge barrier” in the path of development especially in the far flung areas of the erstwhile state.
“With its abrogation many deprived Sections of the region including Scheduled Caste community, Valmiki Samaj, Gorkha community, women, Gujjars and Bakerwals have all got equal political, economic and social rights,” he said.
However, Independent DDC member from Suchetgarh Taranjit Singh Tony regretted that his name was excluded from the list of members who had to meet the foreign envoys.
Tony told the Excelsior that he wanted to meet the envoys to brief them on Pakistan’s involvement in fanning militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and resorting to firing on the International Border causing harassment to the border dwellers.
“I wanted to expose Pakistan before the foreign diplomats but the administration didn’t allow me to meet the envoys,” Tony regretted.
Meanwhile, heightened vigil along the Line of Control has pushed terror groups and Pakistani establishments to send militants into India using tunnels dug under seasonal river beds along the International Border in the Jammu region, the army told the foreign envoys in Srinagar this morning.
They were given a detailed presentation by senior Indian army officers on the role of the Pakistani army in helping cross-border infiltration and supplying arms, and instances of unprovoked ceasefire violation by the neighbouring nation.
The envoys were briefed by the officers at the strategically-located headquarters of the army’s XV Corps, which overlooks the Kashmir Valley.
The officials said that after the army made certain changes to the Counter Infiltration Grid along the Line of Control (LoC), the Pakistani establishment has been using a network of natural caves and sometimes digging tunnels under seasonal rivers along the International Border in Jammu region’s Samba sector to push militants into India.
Highlighting the techniques used by Pakistan-based terror groups for infiltration, they said the establishment across the border is engaged in providing all support to militants in spreading violence in the Union Territory.
It was mentioned that the militants, who masterminded a dastardly attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama in 2019 that left 40 personnel martyred, had also infiltrated into India through a tunnel in the Jammu region.
The officials told the envoys that despite foiling several attempts of infiltration along the LoC, the Pakistan army continues to run terror camps across the border and violate ceasefire to help militants to enter into the Kashmir valley.
The visiting envoys were Juan Angulo, Ambassador , Chile; Andre Aranha Correa do Lego, Ambassador, Brazil; Oscar Israel Martinez Cordoves, Ambassador, Cuba; Katrin Kivi, Ambassador, Estonia; Ritva Koukku-Ronde, Ambassador, Finland; Lukmon Bobokalozoda, Ambassador, Tajikistan; Mr. Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador, France; Brendan Ward, Ambassador, Ireland; Marten Van Den Berg, Ambassador, Netherlands, Carlos Pereira Marques, Ambassador, Portugal; Ugo Astuto, Ambassador, European Union; Muhammad Imran, High Commissioner, Bangladesh; George C. Mkondiwa, Ambassador, Malawi; Alem Tsehaye Woldermariam, Ambassador, Eritrea; N’DRY Eric Camille, Ambassador, Cote d’Ivore; Abdoul Wahab Haidara, Ambassador, Senegal; Klas Molin, Ambassador, Sweden; Vincenzo de Luca, Ambassador, Italy; Dato Hidayat bin Abdul Hamid, High Commissioner, Malaysia; Francois Delhaye, Ambassador, Belgium; Asein Isaev, Ambassador, Kyrgyzstan; besides Sebastian Beliwine, Cd’A, Ghanna; Juan Jose Cortez Rojas, Cd’A, Bolivia and Montserrat Moman Pampillo, Cd’A Spain.
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