Srinagar
J&K Finance Minister Dr Haseeb Drabu is now facing the music from different sides including his party for his statement that the Kashmir should not be seen as the “political issue only”.
Hurriyat Conference (M) reaction
All Parties Hurriyat Conference ridiculed the deceptive statement of PDP MLA Haseeb Drabu that “J&K is not a conflict state and a political issue but a society with social issues in search of itself”.
APHC spokesman said that such falsehood is part of the propaganda being deliberately built, to mislead and misdirect audiences in order to dilute the reality of the Kashmir dispute and weaken the discourse on Kashmir.
The spokesman said that unfortunately for the people of Kashmir while they are strongly resisting military control to assert their will, the self-serving ambition and extreme opportunism of such individuals for power fame and wealth greatly raises the cost for them. These individuals for the realization of their ambitions become voluntary tools in the hands of oppressors and act as their mouthpiece whom the oppressor uses and discards as suits its interests.
“Successive governments in India have patronised and promoted such people, to systematically weaken and erode the Kashmir cause and gradually strengthen its own grip over J&K as is evident before us,” said spokesman.
JKCC Condemns
The Jammu and Kashmir Coordination Committee (JKCC), an amalgam of apex trade, industrial, tourism, travel, horticulture and civil society formations, has strongly condemned the State Finance Minister for falsely projecting Kashmir anything other than a political issue.
In a statement JKCCC said that while analyzing the speech of the minister at PHD Chamber’s so-called event, the members observed that by bringing in newer bizarre and ridiculous narratives to the Kashmir dispute, this minister wishes to walk an extra mile to please his bosses by selling off whatever is left of his soul and conscience. The members felt that he has actually made himself a laughing stock before a group of ‘Ambassadors’ who are all well known about the 70-year-old internationally acknowledged political dispute of Kashmir which also happens to be an unfinished agenda before United Nations.
“The minister looks to be eying for some higher position by behaving as a new Ambassador of New Delhi by making a failed attempt to hoodwink the international community by issuing novel but far from truth discourses” observed the members adding that the chief minister is required to clarify her position in this regard publically.
The JKCC also seeks an explanation from the minister on his offer of fun and enjoyment in Kashmir if they decide to invest in this disputed territory.
JKCC questions the wisdom of the said minister when he says that Kashmir should not be seen as a conflict zone, then why is Kashmir declared as a disturbed area with draconian and inhuman laws in place. The fact of the matter is that Kashmir society is receiving body bags of their kith and kin, day in and day out, brutally killed by forces and is in a state of mourning for past 28 years”, the members informed.
JKCC terms the invitation offers made to the outsiders as funny by the same minister who has been responsible and instrumental in strangulating all economic sectors of the state by bringing in damaging laws and rules into the state of which the latest being the GST law introduced at the cost of fiscal autonomy of the state.
The JKCC also views the presence of some Kashmir based “business leaders and others strange who seem to have been used as tools by the said minister with a hidden agenda.
The JKCC appeals all business organizations and their leaders to be vigilant about such agendas and designs perpetrated in the name of economic development. The only way to counter these plots through “outside chambers” is to remain united. We need to learn from our mistakes and do not repeat these. How can we shut our eyes to whatever is happening around us?, JKCC questioned.
KCCI
The Kashmir Chamber Commerce and Industries said that the statement by Haseeb A Drabu Minister of Finance govt of J&K at a function hosted by PHD chamber of commerce at Delhi. The comment made by him terming Kashmir as a social issue is far from the truth when the whole world recognises it as a political issue pending for a solution for the last 70 years.
The spokesman said this issue not been given preference for its solution by the people who hold authority in India as well as in the world bodies like UN who have entangled us in a situation where the killing of innocents has become every day a tragedy for us.
For the past 70 years, our economy has become a victim of an -settlement which our organisation has pointed out recently in a memorandum to the chief minister and the reason for our failure to take advantage of our resources which can make us economically independent in the shortest possible time.
By using the platform of an organisation which is based in Delhi our narrative of Kashmir is being tried to dilute and an impression being created particularly in front of ambassadors present on the occasion. This we think is the reason to promote such organisations like PHD Chamber of Commerce in Kashmir who have no locus standee locally and represented by a maximum of the total membership of not more than a score. We appeal to our local businessmen who have become a part of such organisations to come forward with its view on such issues publicly or we will all infer that they do not consider Kashmir as a political issue yet to be settled.
One wonders how the speaker has shut his eyes in respect to the media coverage, as the media has played a very negative role particularly for last so many years. The efforts of our trade particularly the organisations connected with tourism have made a great effort to change with no success and such statements encourage them.
The PDP in its agenda of the alliance has recognised the fact of the settlement of Kashmir by talking to all stakeholders internally and externally and as such the finance minister has done a great disservice to not only to his own party but to people of Kashmir who have sacrificed their lives and not to speak of economically.
Meanwhile, Senior CPI(M) leader and MLA Kulgam Mohd Yousuf Tarigami has strongly criticized the statement of Finance Minister Dr Haseeb A Drabu at an event in New Delhi the other day, wherein he has tried to oversimplify the current crises in the state by terming Kashmir problem mainly as a social issue. While as facts reveal that the problem of Jammu and Kashmir has been there since the accession of the state to the Indian union.
The spokesman said throughout the chequered history of past decades it has not been just a territorial dispute but a test of the secular, democratic and federal nature of the republic. The continued Indo-Pak confrontations resulting in wars between the two countries, cycles of violence and mass protests have sufficiently demonstrated the political nature of this vexed issue.
This unrest graphically illustrates the deep sense of alienation of the people. Since 2014 the gulf between people and Indian state has been further widened. This serious situation calls for an in-depth examination of the entire Kashmir issue and necessary political steps initiated to address this long pending problem. Of course, it has created social, economic and cultural implications but essentially its political nature cannot be overlooked.
