‘PDP’s agenda to undo political, economic injustices’

Jammu, February 15  – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today called for adopting a fresh approach to address the State’s economic and fiscal woes. "The continuing arbitrary exploitation of our water resources must end to safeguard our economic interests," he said.

"The State’s natural and water resources need to be freed from the current exploitative arrangement that has spelled a doom to its economy reducing it to a begging bowl," Sayeed said while addressing a PDP workers convention here today. He said instead of looking for packages and doles, the State’s political leadership, across the divide, must bring into focus the unfair treatment that is being meted out to Jammu & Kashmir on the economic front. He said PDP would launch a concerted struggle to protect the political, economic interests of the State and the party legislators would forcefully raise such crucial issues in the coming session of the legislature.

Sayeed said the unqualified surrender of State’s water resources by various regimes is an instance of total insensitivity towards its people. "It is a pity that while rest of the country enjoys electricity generated from our water resources, we are forced to live in darkness," he said and added that the severe winter conditions in Kashmir valley and Ladakh and blistering summer heat in Jammu makes the life a hell in absence of electricity which is now a basic requirement of common man.

Referring to the collapse of Batote-Doda road, Sayeed said it is an irony that a major chunk of the State’s population spread over a vast area in the Chenab valley region where most of the power projects, both in the Central and the State sector are operational and many more are coming up, instead of drawing any economic benefit are today suffering the most because of the unfair and unrestrained exploitation of the area’s water and natural resources.

"The State’s political leadership should, with fresh resolve, bring into focus the unfair treatment that has been meted out to us as a result of the discriminatory Indus Water Treaty (IWT) and the arbitrary exploitation of our water resources by the NHPC," he said and added that a joint struggle must be launched by the people in all the regions of the State to seek adequate compensatory and remedial measures. "To our economic prosperity is linked the future of our young boys and girls, who otherwise are forced to look towards Class-IV jobs for sustenance," he said.

"With the surrender of our rights on water, our premier resource, government is ironically now forced to look to the Center for even its salary bill," Sayeed said and added that the State’s present arrangement with the NHPC should be reviewed to safeguard our economic interests as is being done by the other states. "It is time fundamental reorientation is made in our approach and the State government cannot escape the responsibility to lead in retrieving our surrendered assets," he said and wondered that how long the State Government would continue to rush to Delhi for money even for the repair of roads and electric transformers.

The PDP Patron said political empowerment, economic emancipation and social uplift of the State and its people in every region and sub-region are the guiding principles of his party’s Self-Rule agenda. "Our Self-Rule agenda not only seeks political empowerment for the people in all the regions and sub-regions of the State, but also envisages a new and modern economic and financial structure to constitute the State’s backbone," he said.

PDP leaders Ved Mahajan, Sardar Rangil Singh, Abdul Rehman Veeri, Mohammad Dillawar Mir, Qazi Mohammad Afzal, Dhaman Bhasin, Murtaza Khan, Sardar Manjit Singh, Sardar T S Bajwa, Shanti Devi, Falail Singh, Asghar Ali, Bashir Assad, members of the part’s State Executive and zonal presidents of Jammu were present.