KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
MLA Langate, Er Rashid Tuesday said that Jammu was getting institutions like IIM, IIT because of sacrifices that Kashmiris give.
Rashid whose party is staging a 50-hour long sit-in outside the Secretariat in Srinagar demanding IIM and IIT for Kashmir valley said that India was giving international community an impression that it was doing development in J&K by giving these prestigious institutions. “But in reality, it is Jammu that is getting them,” he said.
Rashid said that when New Delhi had declared AIIMS for Kashmir and IIT, IIM for Jammu, Kashmiris were content with it. “But at the end of the day, when Jammu people took to streets at the behest of central government, they were awarded with AIIMS too.”
“When it comes to PSA, daily crackdowns, frisking and incidents like Kunanposhpora, they don’t want any share in those things. But when Kashmiris are given institutions like AIIMS, they come in no time to ask for their share,” he said.
He said Jammu got three institutions when it was Kashmir that deserved more because “Ladakh is also a part of Kashmir.” He said that Ladakh is not a separate province. “When previous PM Manmohan Singh had announced a relief package under Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Program for the state, Jammu grabbed it too,” he said.
Rashid said that even in Jammu, the package was disbursed in selected areas. “The main Jammu which is Rajouri, Poonch, Doda and Kishtwar got nothing. They got VDC’s, bullets and labels that they were Pakistani agents,” he said adding that they were facing the brunt for sympathizing with Kashmir region.
Rashid said that Kashmir was more in need of these institutions because: “When Kashmiri students move to study outside, we don’t know whether they would even come back or not.”
He said that Kashmiri students faced harassment outside valley and there was no sense of security with them.
He also said that Mufti government made many “tall” promises of “ushering in a new era of development” but nothing was visible on ground.
Rashid said that Kashmiris demanded autonomy, self-rule and Azadi but they got nothing. He said that today’s effort was a wake-up call to Kashmiris. “Today we want to ask Kashmiri people that for how long you will suffer this humiliation.”
Rashid threatened to continue the sit-in if his demands were not met. “We will even continue the protest if need be,” he said.
