Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 24: Prof Virender Gupta, president of Jammu State Morcha, today alleged that the Kashmiri leadership, which also include Mufti family, was responsible for the alienation of people of Kashmir by not allowing them to become the part of national mainstream.
“For their own benefit they kept the settled issue of Jammu and Kashmir alive and directly or indirectly supported the separatist elements in the Valley, including the terrorists and they are still playing the same game, he said while reacting to Mehbooba Mufti’s statement at Ganderbal.
Prof Gupta alleged that the Kashmiri leadership created wedge between different regions and different communities of the State. “It discriminated against the people of Jammu region and Ladakh region. It always opposed the empowerment of these regions, denied them their due share in political, administrative and economic structure of the State. It did not allow equitable development of these regions vis-à-vis Kashmir Valley. Thus the people of these regions feel alienated from the Kashmir Valley,” he explained.
The JSM leader said that as a first step of duty, the Kashmiri leadership should try to end the alienation of the people of Jammu and Ladakh regions from the Valley before talking of alienation of Kashmir from India.
“Jammu and Kashmir is a part of India and it cannot play anything in itself different than India with regard to SAARC countries. Only one of the SAARC countries i.e. Pakistan has its boundaries adjoining Jammu and Kashmir where as rest of the SAARC member countries are far off from Jammu and Kashmir, hence telling the people that SAARC cooperation should begin from Jammu and Kashmir amounts to befooling the people,” Prof Gupta said.
“The leadership at the national level has now realized the mistakes those were committed by the earlier leadership at the time of accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with India by providing special status under Article 370 to Jammu and Kashmir. So it wants to undo the past mistakes and bring Jammu and Kashmir, the Kashmir Valley, in particular in national mainstream by abrogating Article 370,” Prof Gupta said.
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