“There is need of sincere, bold voices in parliament”
Srinagar: Maintaining that the coming Lok Sabha elections have to be viewed above the routine power calculations Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti has expressed confidence that the people would break the past practice of sending politicians on lookout for employment to the highest forum of the country.
According to a statement issued to KNS, addressing largely attended workers’ convention at Pulwama, wherein workers from Pulwama and Rajpora constituencies participated, and at Awantipora where workers from Pampore and Tral constituencies participated, she said we need to have strong and sincere voices in the parliament who can take-up the Kashmir issue and the issues of Jammu & Kashmir with rest of the country inside the parliament and outside of it. “Unfortunately till now those, who have taken votes in the name of state’s dignity, autonomy and other emotional issues always collaborated with the tormentors of the people of the state”, Mehbooba said.
Mehbooba said even the 65years after the independence the people of J&K are facing uncertainty and instability in every sphere of the life. This fact should always have been articulated in the parliament effectively, not just for striking alliances but for finding actual remedy to our problems. Four members of Lalu Yadav’s party could stop an important legislation in the parliament while parties from Bengal and Tamil Nadu effectively intervened in the foreign affairs of the country but half a dozen MPs in UPA from J&K even did not open their mouth when blood is being spilt in Kashmir every day. No MP from J&K even asked a question about any issue related to this state as has been brought out in the Lok Sabha record recently. Mehbooba said the only objective of elections for NC has been to find jobs for their leaders in Delhi and in the state.
Mehbooba said she herself and her senior colleague and Former deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig as well as Tariq Hameed Karra and Yashpal Sharma were fielded by the party with the expectation that they would effectively bring Kashmir into focus at national level. She said our effort would be to create awareness among the people of the country about the injustice meted out to us in Jammu & Kashmir, denial of rights, human rights crisis in the state, democratic deficit promoted by the NC-Congress alliance and most importantly the loot of natural resources which has plunged the state into poverty and darkness.
Mehbooba said keeping in view the repeated betrayal by NC, the PDP expect the decisive mandate, not just in Kashmir but in Jammu province as well so that a strong voice from the state is emerged in the parliament which has the support of the people.
She said it is not the numbers alone that give a party its strength and moral authority to represent the people but it is the credibility of its leadership, clarity of its vision and honesty of its purpose. “That is why Mufti Mohammad Sayeed with just sixteen members could bring about a major change not just in J&K but was able to script a new agenda of peace for the whole subcontinent. We will carry forward that agenda to its logical conclusion by facilitating the resolution of Kashmir”, Mehbooba said.
The PDP President said whatever the achievements of previous PDP-led government are; they were registered without any agitation, loss of life or appointment of committees and interlocutors. She said whether it was the opening of roads across LoC, internal connectivity like extending of national highway up to Srinagar, new links like Mughal road are very important measures to bring relief to the people like disbanding SOG and disciplining of Ikhwani’s, the Mufti government did it without creating a hype.
She said the PDP believes that resolution of issues and problems is a duty that elected representatives owe to their people and voters and that is why it has emerged as a feasible and preferred alternative to NC. Party senior leaders, Mohammad Khalil Bandh, MLA and district president; Syed Bashir Ahmad, MLA; Zahoor Ahmad Mir, MLA; Mushtaq Ahmad Shah, MLA; Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, state secretary; Mohammad Shafi Banday; Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, youth wing in charge and youth leaders Showkat Gayoor and Dr Shanti Singh were also present on the occasion. (KNS)