KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
National Conference on Wednesday lashed out at PDP-BJP Government’s Cabinet Minister and MLA Amira Kadal Altaf Bukhari for brazenly absolving himself and his party of their duties towards the flood victims by engaging in what-about-every and blame-games.
“PDP went to New Delhi to seek immediate elections at a time when the flood victims were still sleeping in tents and makeshift shelters. At that time they brought the entire Relief and Rehabilitation Process to a grinding halt and preferred their own political rehabilitation with the BJP – with whom they had a tacit understanding of a fixed-match even before the elections. Now they have nothing to offer to the flood victims apart from lame excuses and distractions even as nine months have passed since the September floods,” NC said in a press statement Wednesday.
The NC statement said that it was none other than PDP Patron and current Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed who landed in one flight at the Srinagar airport during the floods and fled away in the very next flight to Delhi.
“Mufti Sahab didn’t even consider it important to leave partisan politics at that juncture and pitch in with his bit. The State Government had kept a chopper ready for him at the Srinagar airport so that he could view the destruction caused by the floods. Despite that he jumped out of one plane and boarded the next plane out of Srinagar. Is his solidarity and empathy for the people only a derivative of his being in power or not? Altaf Bukhari and his PDP colleagues should introspect in why people are fuming at how PDP played politics over the floods. These statements add insult to the injuries of the people,” it added.
“The NC-led Government did everything possible and much more during the unprecedented natural calamity. Then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah led from the front and did not care about PDP’s media propaganda machinery which was much busy politicizing the floods rather than helping in the relief and rescue operations. Today flood victims are united in their resentment against PDP and there is a popular, common perception that PDP politicized the floods and exploited the flood victims with false promises. All such promises that were made by PDP unto the flood victims have been broken. When will relief and rehabilitation start? A year from now? Two years from now? Will it even matter then? Factually speaking, Rehabilitation Delayed and Rehabilitation Denied and PDP has denied compensation and rehabilitation to the flood victims,” the statement further said.
The NC Provincial President said the PDP-BJP Government had no right to talk about the miseries of the flood victims as both PDP and BJP had together brought relief and rehabilitation efforts to a standstill for their political ambitions.
“And PDP’s Finance Minister openly opposed the Rs 44,000 Crore flood relief package proposed by the previous NC-led Government. That was much before PDP-BJP Government’s Deputy CM, Nirmal Singh said that Rs 3,600 Crores was ‘sufficient’ for the cause of flood victim rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged infrastructure in the State. So, NC suggests Altaf Bukhari talk to his cabinet colleagues first before issuing public statements.”
“As Works Minister what has Altaf Bukhari done till now towards the goal of reconstructing public infrastructure in the State? The only roads that are being macadamized are lanes and by-lanes of PDP Ministers and MLAs. Is that what Bukhari’s vision is? What about the potholed roads of Srinagar? Till today the Works Minister could not get a small foot-bridge connecting flood-hit Mahjoor Nagar to Jawahar Nagar repaired. The roads are in shambles and there is no sign of the Government getting its act together”, the NC Provincial President further added.
National Conference would expose PDP’s intrigue to sabotage the Rs 44,000 Crore flood relief and rehabilitation package and would walk in solidarity with the flood victims in their struggle against this insensitive, ruthless “U-turn Government that was born out of an unholy nexus”, the statement concluded.
