Srinagar August 26: (Vijay Kumar) – President of Peoples Democratic Party, Mehbooba Mufti on Wedensday told in the J&K state assembly that the Pro freedom sentiment in Kashmir cannot be addressed by filling jails or muzzling the voice of dissent but needs a bold political handling to reach out to the people.
Opening the debate on chief minister’s grants she said Pro freedom sentiment could not be tackled without understanding its genesis and responding to it with an alternative. Sixty two years of our suffering should be enough for us to raise the level of debate on Kashmir from petty partisan bickering to an informed joint effort to come out of the nightmarish survival and lead our coming generations to a dignified and meaningful life, she told the members across party lines.
Mehbooba said it is for the political leadership at the state level to
put its act together and convey our feelings to centre on issues “on
which we all agree”. “My party offers its unqualified support to any
such initiative, be it on matters of immediate significance or long
term resolution paradigm”, she said and wondered how long can we remain obscure from the increasing size of our Shaheed mazars,burgeoning number of widows and orphans and devastation of life and property?.
Mehbooba said it is for the political leadership at the state level to
put its act together and convey our feelings to centre on issues “on
which we all agree”. “My party offers its unqualified support to any
such initiative, be it on matters of immediate significance or long
term resolution paradigm”, she said and wondered how long can we remain obscure from the increasing size of our Shaheed mazars,burgeoning number of widows and orphans and devastation of life and property?.
In her fifty minute speech Mehbooba recounted how central government through a series of acts had shaken the confidence of people of the state which fed alienation among them leading to demands of plebiscite or Azadi with only variation of expressions. This sentiment cannot be erased either by denial of justice or efforts to compensate it with controlled democracy but by an alternative road map which she said her party’s Self Rule vision enshrined.
Recounting the unabated incidents of gross human rights abuse Mehbooba said continued denial of justice to the victims had turned the state into a virtual Guantanamo of Indian legal and political landscape. She pointed out as to how all institutions ranging from police station to the highest judicial forum of the country had been unable to protect the dignity, life and honor of the residents of J&K, even though the constitution should provide us safeguards that are available to all citizens of the country uniformly.
Lamenting the plight of the state youth and their vulnerability to
suspicion by security agencies Mehbooba said they were arrested in and outside the state on flimsy or no grounds merely for their name.
Nobody ever knows what happens to these unfortunate young men. People are denied passports as a rule as much as their counterparts in rest of the country get them as a fundamental right.
Lamenting the plight of the state youth and their vulnerability to
suspicion by security agencies Mehbooba said they were arrested in and outside the state on flimsy or no grounds merely for their name.
Nobody ever knows what happens to these unfortunate young men. People are denied passports as a rule as much as their counterparts in rest of the country get them as a fundamental right.
Referring to the role of police, Mehbooba recalled how this
institution meant for crime control and law and order had been misused in the past and continued to be so. She reminded the NC as to how the architect of accession, Sheikh Abdullah who handed Kashmir to India on a platter had been bundled into jail by the same police that the great leader had between 1947 and 1953 used to stifle opposition. Similarly, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, who succeeded Sheikh got the same treatment from the same police after ruling the state for 11 years through sheer force. “It is time we allow police to come out of shadows of the past
and let it grow into an instrument of justice”, she said.
Deliberating on various aspects of Self Rule Mehbooba said it
addressed internal and external dimensions of the knotty Kashmir
issue. She said the Self Rule vision was the essence of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s thought process that he had evolved during his fifty year long political career. Complimenting Muzaffar Hussein Beig and the noted economist Haseeb Drabu for their contribution in articulating the party views on constitutional and economic dimensions of the document she said it had the potential of catering to the aspirations of all the regions and sub regions of the state.
Mehbooba regretted it had become a fashion to dub anybody trying to speak up for the people of J&K as separatists but asserted that it would not deter her party from its agenda. “When we asked for double currency, there was uproar all around and even the prime minister inquired about it from me” she recalled and said now it is becoming a necessity that cannot be avoided as was demanded by the traders and their representative bodies on a number of occasions.
Calling for immediate roll back of AFSPA and withdrawal of extra
troops from civilian areas, Mehbooba said “each of us here in the
house should ponder as to what our legacy for the coming generations should be”. “Are we leaving behind garrisons where civilians also survive or a proud civil society in which armed forces come to its aid when called, as happens in any free and democratic society”, she asked.
institution meant for crime control and law and order had been misused in the past and continued to be so. She reminded the NC as to how the architect of accession, Sheikh Abdullah who handed Kashmir to India on a platter had been bundled into jail by the same police that the great leader had between 1947 and 1953 used to stifle opposition. Similarly, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, who succeeded Sheikh got the same treatment from the same police after ruling the state for 11 years through sheer force. “It is time we allow police to come out of shadows of the past
and let it grow into an instrument of justice”, she said.
Deliberating on various aspects of Self Rule Mehbooba said it
addressed internal and external dimensions of the knotty Kashmir
issue. She said the Self Rule vision was the essence of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s thought process that he had evolved during his fifty year long political career. Complimenting Muzaffar Hussein Beig and the noted economist Haseeb Drabu for their contribution in articulating the party views on constitutional and economic dimensions of the document she said it had the potential of catering to the aspirations of all the regions and sub regions of the state.
Mehbooba regretted it had become a fashion to dub anybody trying to speak up for the people of J&K as separatists but asserted that it would not deter her party from its agenda. “When we asked for double currency, there was uproar all around and even the prime minister inquired about it from me” she recalled and said now it is becoming a necessity that cannot be avoided as was demanded by the traders and their representative bodies on a number of occasions.
Calling for immediate roll back of AFSPA and withdrawal of extra
troops from civilian areas, Mehbooba said “each of us here in the
house should ponder as to what our legacy for the coming generations should be”. “Are we leaving behind garrisons where civilians also survive or a proud civil society in which armed forces come to its aid when called, as happens in any free and democratic society”, she asked.