Gupta, Luthra also addressed the gathering

Jammu March 31 (KNS): The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Thursday said that the oft-cited surge in development activities in Jammu and Kashmir was a facade and that in reality post 5th August 2019 era was marked with total erasure of every spec of accountability and development of all hues.

This was stated by the party state women's wing president Advocate Shameema Firdous while addressing a  one day public convention at Bishnah. 

The event was organized by Bimla Luthra. Among others the party's Provincial President Rattan Lal Gupta, Sheikh Bashir Ahmed, Vijay Lochan, Ghani Telli, Pardeep Bali, Naresh Bittu Rana, Tarseem Khullar, Bharti Sham, Surinder Singh, Jatinder and local unit functionaries, and women's wing functionaries were also present.

Addressing the functionaries, Shameema Firdous said that there is no precedence in the country, whereby a state was demoted and bifurcated that too without the consent of people. “Earlier we used to see UTs being converted into States, but in the case of J&K, the trend has been reversed. JK has been the worst ever casualty of this undemocratic turn of events. One of the projected dreams advertised to market the decisions of August 5 2019 measures was to bring JK at par with other states. Have we really been brought at par with other states? The answer, we all know, is plain "no". Our people have no say in administration. Our  land and job rights have been liquidated. Ours was a region that used to be emblematic of the country's secular and democratic traditions; unfortunately this crown has been sheared of its glitter,” she said. 

Condemning the unfair demolition at Bathindi, she said that since BJP had its hands on power in New Delhi and JK, the socially and economically backward communities have particularly fallen prey to its sinister designs. The selective witch hunt, she said, also gives vent to the derision that ruling BJP nurtures for socially and economically backward communities of J&K.

Reiterating the party's secular credentials, Rattan Lal Gupta said, "Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah kept the torch of secularism aflame all his life. We don’t not need anybody’s certificate for our secular credentials. The biggest asset and the legacy of the party is its immense faith in unity in diversity, which it has demonstrated during most testing times of its history. The National Conference has, is and will remain in the forefront to seek justice for the people of all the regions and the sub-regions. Public interest is sacrosanct for us.”

Expressing concern over soaring unemployment in J&K, Bimla Luthra said, “The Periodic Labour Force Survey April-June 2021 released by the statistics and programme implementation ministry is in stark contrast to the false realities projected by the Centre on fostering employment in Jammu and Kashmir after the article was revoked. The data published by the premier government agency flies in the face of the central government and the Jammu and Kashmir administration's claims on swelling employment opportunities.”(KNS)