Jammu,March 4 (Scoop News) –Peoples Democratic party today urged the prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh to intervene in stopping repression in the state and restoring civil liberties of people especially the youth.
Interacting with the Prime Minister here today party President Mehbooba Mufti informed him about the human rights crisis that the state government had created in the state as a result of its repressive actions and denial of constitutional rights. She was accompanied by senior party leader, Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Thakur Balbir Singh, Sardar Rangil Singh and T. S. Bajwa.
Mehbooba told the Prime Minister that unless a congenial atmosphere was created in the state well meaning initiatives like the internal dialogue or resumption of Indo-Pak talks will fail to takeoff. “You will have to address the concerns of the people of Jammu & Kashmir and ensure their democratic rights to see your dream of resolving Kashmir materialize” she told Dr Singh.
Mehbooba said while the PDP and other parties including Hurriyat were demanding release of prisoners , revocation of AFSPA and Disturbed Area Act and reduction of forces in civilian areas, the state government had created a stone wall of repression and revenge against all voices of concern and peace. She said unless these issues are addressed which now constitute the political middle ground of the state it would be futile to hope for restoration of normalcy for which the people of the state had repeatedly reposed their trust in electoral process. The PDP president said even after the visit of the all party delegation to the state and announcement of eight point agenda the government had not taken a single step towards rebuilding confidence of the people in country’s democratic system or creating conditions for their participation in resolution process. “While hopes had been raised that the government would reach out to the deeply bruised people of Kashmir who had seen their innocent youngsters falling to the bullets of the state, nothing has been done in that direction” she told the Prime Minister and regretted that instead the mourners of the dead, their kith and kin and their friends were been indiscriminately arrested.
Inviting the attention of Dr Singh to the choking political conditions in the state Mehbooba said NC, true to its traditions was trying to silence all voices of decent within the main stream. The NC was again using state repression to push the youth to the wall, generate a hostile atmosphere and strengthen the sentiment of separatism. She said PDP would continue to utilize the democratic space , even though it had been squeezed by the NC, to channelize the aspirations of the people and highlight their problems. In doing so, she said her party would use all permissible democratic means in and outside the legislature. She said PDP would, like any other political party, continue to hold public demonstrations, street protests and awareness campaigns to highlight the bitter truth about Kashmir under the present coalition.