Abrar Nabi
Srinagar, Jun 17 (KNS) : Leader of Opposition and senior BJP leader Sunil Sharma on Wednesday said the conversion of Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory has ended the era of bloodshed and fear, and accused the previous state government of failing to maintain law and order.
"The government has all the control and power. In the line order, when the whole state used to be with this government, blood used to flow on the roads, bullets used to be fired on the hearts of the youth, and on the breasts of small school-going children," Sharma told news agency Kashmir News Service (KNS).
He also alleged that the previous dispensation had imposed the Public Safety Act (PSA) and other stringent laws to suppress people.
"Today, when the same state has been transformed into a Union Territory and the control of the line order has been taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the roads here do not see blood," the BJP leader said.
Sunil Sharma said the youth in the Valley have come out of the fear of bullets and are no longer afraid of UAPA or PSA.
"If you say that they should have dual control and the line order, then once the youth of Kashmir will have to ask, do you want to live in the same shadow again?" he questioned.
"There is no other dual control in their developmental activities. The Indian government is giving money with an open heart," Sharma said.
On the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley, the BJP leader said the community is an integral part of Jammu and Kashmir's identity.
"Kashmiri Pandit was an identity of Kashmir. Without him, J&K is incomplete. Narendra Modi's government has created an environment that today, wherever the Kashmiri Pandit comes, he claims his property and land," he said.
Sharma said the Centre is working to re-establish the community in the Valley.
"The ministry is working with home affairs. Very soon, you will feel that the people who are claiming their land and property today will be established here," he added.
He also said that the previous environment in Kashmir, where soldiers and tourists were targeted, has changed under the current dispensation.
"This environment has come under Narendra Modi's government," he said.
Earlier in the day, Sunil Sharma had also claimed that the National Conference-led government in the Union Territory is unstable and will "collapse on its own" due to internal contradictions. He reiterated that restoration of statehood would be considered only when the Centre is fully satisfied that peace and stability have been achieved. (KNS)