KL Report
GANDERBAL
Senior PDP leader and former Finance Minister Tariq Hameed Karra Thursday said his party would use Parliament as a forum for debate and dialogue on Kashmir and strive towards seeking a way out for the political and economic issues confronting Jammu and Kashmir. He said the Government of India shall have to take tangible measures to address the trust deficit and alienation in Kashmir as no initiative is going to have an impact on the ground without the involvement of the people.
“While the overwhelming mandate received by PDP in Lok Sabha polls is a matter of great satisfaction for the party and we express our gratitude to the people for the same, it has at the same time come with huge responsibilities and enormous expectations,” Karra said while addressing a series of thanksgiving public meetings in Ganderbal Assembly segment of Srinagar-Budgam Parliamentary constituency, wherefrom he has been elected to the Lok Sabha after defeating National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah with a margin of more than 40000 votes.
Karra said the renewed trust people of the State have reposed in the democratic institutions, offers a fresh opportunity to work through peaceful and reconciliatory means towards addressing all the dimensions of the Kashmir issue in a manner that balances and promotes enduring political and economic stability in the State and the region. “PDP visualizes a space of dignity, opportunity and prosperity for the people of the State in the paradigm of friendship and cooperative relationship between India and Pakistan,” he said.
Karra called upon the State’s young population to play a greater and more vibrant role in the political decision-making. “PDP believes that the State’s youth have the right to seek meaningful employment, freedom of expression, participation in decision-making and protection from socio-economic and political exploitation,” he said and added that the party would continue its struggle towards realizing this objective for the State’s emancipated young population who have been the worst victims of political instability and turmoil.
Karra said PDP would seek comprehensive review of the Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) for J&K and the Udaan project as both these schemes seem to have failed to realize the desired objective. “Instead of doing any good to the State’s educated youth both these schemes are now turning out to be scandalous affairs as complaints of duping by dubious NGOs in the garb of these schemes are piling up day by day,” he said.
Karra said instead of cosmetic measures, PDP would seek setting-up of institutions of excellence in J&K to build an enterprising human resource base among the youth who could then compete with their counterparts in and outside the country and benefit from the bounties of economic liberalization.
Referring to some latest decisions taken by the State Government including scrapping of new job policy and lifting of ban on SMS, Karra said it seems the good sense has prevailed on the Government after the poll results and it has started rectifying its mistakes. He said the Government should immediately slash the power tariff which has been hiked by over 100% during the past five years and also initiate measures for creating job avenues for the educated unemployed youth.
Complimenting PDP cadres for having successfully and effectively carried the party’s political and economic agenda to the grassroots level, Karra said the PDP cadres sacrificed their personal interests for the larger objective of ensuring peace and dignity for the State and its people. “It is because of the untiring efforts of the PDP cadres that their party has today become a real people’s movement across Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
