Srinagar, Sep 19 (KNS): Former IAS officer Khursheed Ganie on Saturday said restoration of statehood was important for effective governance in Jammu and Kashmir, arguing that the elected government would continue to face limitations as long as the Union Territory status remained in place.

Speaking at a memorial lecture for former bureaucrat Muhammad Shafi Pandit, Ganie said former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi, who delivered the lecture, had spoken about statehood and the need to restore the old sense of brotherhood in Kashmir.

He said Quraishi’s lecture, titled “What Kashmir Taught Me: Democracy, Courage and Belonging”, reflected on his experiences of Kashmir and the lessons he drew from the region.

Ganie said Quraishi had stressed that statehood should be restored soon and expressed sadness over the displacement of a large section of the population during the years of turmoil.

“He said that he wanted the old brotherhood to be restored. The Kashmiri Pandits should come back. Muslims and Hindus should sit together,” Ganie said while recounting Quraishi’s remarks.

He said Quraishi had recalled his visit to Kashmir in 1976 as an officer for an exhibition, when he found Hindus and Muslims living together and sharing a common social identity.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel

According to Ganie, Quraishi had also spoken about the impact of militancy, the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and subsequent migration on Kashmir’s traditional social fabric.

Ganie said restoration of statehood was necessary to address the limitations of the present administrative arrangement.

“The government is in the form of a lame-duck government. To change that, the restoration of statehood is very important,” he said.

Referring to comments by National Conference minister Javed Rana, Ganie said the issue of statehood had also been repeatedly raised by the political leadership and civil society.

He said the elected government’s performance would remain constrained in the absence of statehood, though he added that there was also scope for improving governance even under the existing Union Territory framework.

“We have repeatedly said that as long as there is no statehood, the government will not be able to give a good performance. There will be shortcomings,” Ganie said.

“Although we also believe that in this UT status, their performance can be even better, for that they should think about it,” he said.(KNS)