Srinagar, May 27 (KNS): Senior National Conference leader and MLC Dr S Bashir A Veeri while speaking against motion of thanks on Governors address in Legislative Council, Friday termed it hollow, zero sum and clueless about various issues promised by coalition government in the agenda of alliance.
In a statement issued to KNS, Veeri said, “Deceptive words have been used while crafting agenda of alliance and every constitutional document is being framed by these words to make it to convey nothing concrete.”
Veeri lambasted on ruling alliance for being indifferent to the sensitive issues pertaining to common masses especially to innocent killings and excesses on women folk like Hindwara girl. “Yesterday Mehbooba ji used to make hue and cry on such issues and now she pretend as if she doesn't know anything about these serious issues. This is really shameful and unfortunate for this government where head of women’s commission also passes strictures against govt in Handwara incident,” he said.
Veeri said that emancipation of women is not relevant only to the women of a privileged lot. Emancipation is a holistic concept. “What happened to Handwara girl recently is a clear example of how emancipated our women are in a land where draconian laws give impunity to army and police to violate the basic rights of people,” he said.
He said that with due regard to Late Mufi Mohammad Sayeed but it is wrong to project the J&K Legislature as the most powerful house in the country. “With the systemic erosion of our autonomy, this house is probably the most disempowered house in the country. And the manhandling of Engineer Rashid in this very house shows our commitment to free debate and dissent,” he said.
Veeri said, “Our special status is a myth now. The way conspiracies are being hatched to establish Sanik Colonies; Segregated Colonies for our Pandit brethren; the extension of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET); and introduction of Devnagri script for Kashmiri language clearly show the devious commitment of J&K government to safeguard the special status of our state.”
He said that even though the Prime Minister’s Lahore visit was a bold decision but the subsequent events have clearly shown that there is no ‘Pakistan Policy’ in place. “The National Security Level Talks and Foreign Secretary Level Talks have not taken place as per schedule. Both countries are engaged in a serious nuclear brinkmanship. Our relations with other neighbours like Nepal, Sri Lanka and China are at all time low,” he said. The statement further reads that the LoC trade is marred by multiple disadvantages. Since the last one and half years Government of India and the Government of J&K are more rhetorical than substantive on the issue.
“No banking facilities are in place, communications is absent, Trade Facilitation Centres are small and the installation of full body trick scanners is a long pending demand. Besides, the permissible number of items in the trade list has been reduced to below 20,” he said.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
He said that hope of Peace and Prosperity on the one hand and state highhandedness on the other are counterintuitive. “We are a highly militarized region in the world. Draconian laws like AFSPA give the army freedom to operate with scant regard for human rights. There are no jobs for our educated youth. We are passing through a phase of negative growth rate. Violence is imminent if steps are not taken to give our youth a sense of hope and empowerment,” he said.
“Since the BJP-PDP combine took over the reins of the state, the Valley of Kashmir is at the receiving end and regional tensions have reached new heights. First, there was dispute on AIIMS and it was settled by allocating one each in Kashmir and Jammu regions. Now land for AIIMS has been identified in Jammu but it is still to be done in Kashmir. Subsequently, Jammu got IIT and IIM but Kashmir got none. Even Jammu region is getting more funds for infrastructural needs than the Kashmir Valley. Why this step motherly treatment?,” he added.
He said that the Chief Minister’s ‘Model School Scheme’ lacks operational efficiency. “I have personally adopted one such school but there is lack of cooperation from concerned authorities. We need an education policy which strikes a balance between the demands of privatization and concerns of state funded schools,” he said, adding that, “We need to desist from projecting our few youth who annually enter into All India Civil Service as poster boys to counter the deep sense of alienation prevalent among the majority of youth in J&K. The instant appropriation of Civil Service qualifiers by the state in J&K is most unfortunate.”
Veeri said that the institutions of higher learning in our state are corroded with nepotism and lobbyism, adding that all universities here work under high degree of opaqueness. But it is equally true that our state universities need more finances to develop world class laboratories and libraries and overcome faculty deficiency.
“I am deeply skeptical about the measures taken by the present government to develop the health standards of women in our state. A cursory look at the Distract Maternity Hospitals tells the whole story. On the other hand, there is mushrooming growth of Private Nursing Homes who charge exorbitant fees and most people sell their precious resources to save their daughter,” he said.
It is very unfortunate to find that the Governors address is clueless on few important issues including no mention of the unfortunate killings which recently happened in Handwara, no mention of the restoration of special status to the state, the speech was silent on return of power projects from the NHPC to the state, the speech was also silent on the dire need to revoke the AFSPA from our state, there was no mention of dialogue process with the Hurriyat Conference to address the political issue of J&K. (KNS)