Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, July 13: Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today while welcoming the recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Russia said peace in the region can only come through sustained and meaningful dialogue between the two countries.
While speaking peace at a function at Martyrs graveyard, Naqshband Sahab here in Srinagar Mufti said: “Peace in the region can only come through sustained and meaningful dialogue between India and Pakistan.”
Chief Minister said that both India and Pakistan have to resolve their differences by talking to each other for entrenching lasting peace in the region.
Mufti hit out at attempts to erode the special status of the State and asked people to use their vote if they want to defeat the attempts made at eroding the special position of the State within the Indian Constitution. “If you want to protect your unique identity and special position in the Indian Constitution, use your vote. Like they say a diamond cuts a diamond,” he said.
“Jammu and Kashmir has a unique status and identity. I am saying it is a treasure for us. The power of our Assembly is supreme. If Parliament passes a law, it is our choice whether to implement it or not. We have a separate Constitution. We have a State flag alongside the national tri-colour. We have state subject,” Chief Minister said.
Mufti said that people of the State have shown the strength of ballot by voting overwhelmingly in a series of elections since 2002.
The Chief Minister said the gun will not resolve any problem as it only brought destruction. “It is the ballot by which you can change your fate. You voted in 2002 and this time you decided that (the Government) will be formed here. However, what you gave me is like standing on one leg,” he said.
Mufti said said it is the hung verdict in the Assembly elections last year which forced his PDP to ally with the BJP to form a Government. He said that while the PDP had a strong mandate from the Valley, the BJP had got overwhelming support in Jammu. “While PDP got mandate here, there was no trace of Congress in Jammu. I thought if we have to change Jammu and Kashmir, it needs two hands. My hand is not an ordinary hand but the hand from that side is also not ordinary,” he said.
Mufti promised to lay foundation of a new Srinagar city, which bore the brunt of 2014 floods. “We will build a new modern city in Srinagar and give priority to Shahr-e-Khas, whose handicraft industry, along with the horticulture sector, sustained our economy during the most turbulent period of Kashmir’s history,” he said.
Chief Minister said the State is vigorously pursuing with the Centre a Comprehensive Flood Protection and Management Programme to save the Valley from the persistent threat of floods. “The project envisages construction of an alternate flood channel worth Rs. 22,000 crore. We will ensure that all measures are taken to secure Valley from any future inundation,” he added.
Mufti said he has embarked on a mission to end unemployment and put the State firmly on the path of development, in particular by making strenuous efforts in restoring infrastructure damaged in the floods. “We have strengthened the Services Selection Board (SSB) and will have a full-strength Public Service Commission (PSC) in place soon to fill huge vacancies, which the previous Government failed to do during their tenure,” he added.
Paying tribute to the martyrs, Chief Minister said: “The struggle in 1931 was against a system, which was not giving due rights to the citizens of this place.
It was a unique struggle that culminated in the sacrifice by our Martyrs, who scripted a new dawn in the history of the State which laid the edifice for democracy and human dignity of people,” he said.
Earlier, Mufti, his Cabinet colleagues from PDP and senior leaders of his party including Minister for Horticulture, Haj and Auqaf, AR Veeri, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Relief and Rehabilitation, Syed Basharat Bukhari, Minister for Rural Development, Abdul Haq Khan, Minister for CA&PD & Tribal Affairs, Choudhary Zulfkar, Minister for Public Works, Floriculture, Gardens and Parks, Syed Altaf Bukhari, Minister for Education, Naeem Akhtar, Minister of State for Power, H&UDD and I&C, Mohammad Ashraf Mir, MLC, Khursheed Alam laid floral wreaths on the graves of the 21 persons who were killed in firing by the Dogra Army on this day in 1931.
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