KL Report
SRINAGAR
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Sunday said Kashmir’s accession to India strengthened the secular credentials of the country and any attempt at dismantling the special status of Jammu and Kashmir would be an assault on the very idea of India.
Addressing election rallies in Chrar-e-Sharief, Budgam and Chadoora assembly segments of this central Kashmir district, Mufti said Jammu and Kashmir is at a defining moment of its history and the ongoing assembly polls could pave the way for resolution of Kashmir issue and stable peace in the region if the people give a decisive mandate to PDP.
Mufti said certain forces in the country consider J&K as the last frontier to be conquered by whether it is for ideological reasons of simple power politics. He, however, cautioned that any attempt to fiddle with the State’s pluralistic composition and distinct identity is fraught with dangerous consequences. “J&K as the only Muslim majority state of the country is an asset that stands India out among the modern nation-states and those who target its identity are not doing any service either to the country or to the state,” he said.
Mufti said people of all the regions of the state are reposing their faith in PDP, not just as a political alternative but are connecting with it as a platform for change and channeling of their collective aspirations. He said no doubt that there is a divergence of aspirations in the state but the need for peace in the region is shared by all and so is the urge for growth, development and generation of employment for our children. “We will ensure that the identity of the State is protected, peace process is revived and inclusive development agenda is put into practice to take the State out of political uncertainty and economic backwardness.”
Mufti said the political subversion and uncertainty that the state has faced in the last seven decades has already taken a heavy toll on the state, its economy and human resources and it can ill afford any further disruption and the attempts being made currently by some quarters to squeeze the space for its residents will have to be met with maturity, wisdom, collective action and democratic assertion of our rights.
He said that PDP had scripted a new chapter of peace and development in Jammu and Kashmir and changed political discourse of the State through its visionary and pro-peace policies. “I am especially humbled by the overwhelming endorsement of my party’s political and economic agenda by the state’s young population who have started playing decisive role in democratic exercises as is evident from the first two phases of the ongoing assembly polls,” Mufti said and added that the PDP leader said.
Mufti said PDP is evolving a workable plan to ensure proper development of human resource and harness the immense potential of our youth for their own growth and that of the state by creating gainful job opportunities for them. He said if PDP gets the people’s mandate to form the next government, district Budgam would witness a new era of development with the upgradation of Srinagar-Budgam, Srinagar-Chrar-e-Sharief and Srinagar-Dodhpathri roads.
He said the new government would also focus on expansion and beautification of the shrine of Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Wali (RA) and the adjoining Khanqah in a time bound manner for which a separate development authority would be established. He said the new and government would also pursue the naming of Srinagar International Airport as Sheikh-ul-Alam International Airport.
Mufti said upgradation of Aga Syed Yousuf Hospital as a super-speciality healthcare facility and rehabilitation of the flood-affected would be the first priority of the new government.
