Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 30: Maintaining that Kashmir is a settled issue so far as its constitutional position is concerned, BJP MLA from Ramnagar, R S Pathania objected raising fingers time and again over accession of the State with Indian Union.
Participating in debate on grants of departments under Chief Minister, Pathania asked that “how many times will you settle the issue”. The issue has been settled after Maharaja made accession in 1947 which was later ratified by Constituent Assembly of the State also. He also quoted the preamble of J&K Constitution in this regard and said this is the basic structure of the Constitution under which Kashmir is a settled issue and the Assembly can’t alter it.
The issue was taken to UNO and it constituted a Commission which asked Pakistan to withdraw its forces from Pak occupied Kashmir but Pakistan failed to comply with it.
Later during the Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan it was decided all issues will be settled bilaterally between two countries. This was followed by agreement between Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah and Union Government in 1975 after which Sheikh Abdullah took the reigns of State Government, he added.
Maintaining that Kashmir is a settled issue Pathania said clock can’t be reversed now and we should refrain from raising settled issues. Giving full credit to Maharaja Hari Singh the last ruler of J&K State, he said those who are talking of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh must know how this State came into being with the efforts of Maharaja as our forefathers have laid down their lives for extending the boundaries of this State.
Terming Maharaja Hari Singh a model for the entire nation, he regretted that his name was taken with contempt. He is the first ruler who eradicated untouchability by opening temples for SCs.
He said ask any Kashmiri today he will say Maharaja’s rule and rule of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed was best. He however termed it unfortunate that Maharaja was sent in exile and Sheikh Abdullah who was an unparallel leader was jailed.
Engineer Rashid tried to interrupting his speech number of times but he was retarded and countered by BJP’s Ravinder Raina.
Participating in the debate PDP’s Javed Hussian Baig accused that New Delhi was not taking the public representatives seriously as every delegation which visited the State in past talked to every one except the public representatives. He said they always took us for granted and consider us as employees of the Government.
Criticising the Centre Baig said they are willing to talk to Hurriyat which wants to handover Kashmir to Pakistan and they are not willing to talk to those who at the cost of their lives have kept Indian flag atop in the State. “We say with pride that we are Indian and the number of activists of NC, PDP and Congress who laid down their lives during the militancy is more than the jawans of security forces over the years”, he added.
This House passed the resolution of autonomy and it was not necessary that Hurriyat leader Geelani should have signed it. The Indian leadership never took us seriously, he added.
Baig said PDP has not done any favour to BJP by entering into alliance with them but we respected the mandate of the people of this region.
Her said J&K made accession with India under certain conditions in 1947 and every thing was normal for some time and there was a good relation between State and Centre. The people of Jammu, Ladakh as well as Kashmir accepted the accession except a marginal section in Valley which was for independence and another faction which was for J&K’s merger with Pakistan. But they were not a threat to India and would have not succeeded had India not eroded the agreement of accession and made limited the role of nationalist forces in Valley, he added.
CPI(M) leader and MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami suggested to both government and opposition parties to build consensus over forming a delegation of representatives of all political parties, which could meet the Prime Minister and urge him to initiate dialogue with all stake holders in Kashmir, including separatists.
Tarigami said, “We as public representatives should build a consensus and constitute a delegation led by Chief Minister which could meet the Prime Minister and impress upon him to initiate dialogue with stake holders in Kashmir, including separatists.”
“Hon’ble members from all parties have made speeches in this House regarding development, good governance and peace. My question is can we achieve the results by delivering speeches only? Time and again bloodshed is happening in Kashmir and jails are full. Can we afford same speeches again and again,” the MLA Kulgam questioned.
Stating that when a delegation led by all opposition parties met President and Prime Minister during the 2016 unrest, they, conveyed to the two leaders about the nature and intensity of the crisis in Kashmir. “Even, both President and PM acknowledged the nature and intensity of unrest. I ask all my colleagues does this House has any solution to end the bloodshed?” he said.
Tarigami said that Kashmir can’t be seen as a development issue. “All of us know how many people became victims of pellet guns during the unrest and how many fell to the bullets. Normalcy and peace can’t be restored by force. If we have to treat the real disease, then our army and security forces have to be realigned and sent to borders,” he suggested.
The CPI(M) MLA also spoke about governance, police reforms and tourism during his forceful speech. He asked the Government why different commissions meant for good governance in the state were headless. “God knows about the fate of police reforms which had long ago been initiated,” he said.
Tarigami also highlighted the issue of SPOs who died during militancy. “The families of these poor people have not been covered under SRO which is unfortunate. If a civilian dies in militancy related incident his family gets job under SRO. Even surrendered militants are covered under this scheme, then why discrimination with SPOs,” he questioned.
Maintaining that peace is imperative for the development of the State, PDP’s Abdul Rahim Rather said that when there is peace in Sub Continent and good relations between India and Pakistan naturally there will be peace in J&K. He said people of J&K have been victims of strained relations between India and Pakistan.
Rather stressed on implementation of Agenda of Alliance framed during formation of Government by PDP and BJP. He asked who was responsible for making Bashir a surrendered militant as Bashir Lashkar. He was being harassed by police and despite my intervention to allow him to lead a normal life police tortured him time and again. He was so fed up that one fine morning he decided to join the militant ranks again.
Rather demanded action against such police officers. However he lauded the role of majority of police Department in doing a remarkable job during unrest and said some people are earning a bad name for the department. He demanded revocation of PSA on innocent people in his Constituency and up gradation of Police Post Larno to Police Station, creation of Police Sub Division and establishment of Library at Kokernag.
NC’s Ali Mohammed Sagar demanded all parties delegation be sent to Delhi to find a solution to Kashmir issue. He demanded revocation of PSA on innocent youth and asked the Government that what happened to Mufti’s vision of “Goli Ka Javab Boli Sey” (reply of gun with dialogue). It must be verified who forced the surrendered militants to take arms again, he added.
Abdul Majid Larni accused Chief Minister of exposing the Imam’s to militants threats by saying that they helped in restoration of normalcy. He questioned that if Imam’s of mosques helped in restoration of normalcy after unrest then what was the role of police and administration.
There were heated exchanges between him and BJP’s Ravinder Raina after Larni said a driver of his area was killed by RSS people in Udhampur. This was strongly objected by Raina who was also supported by MLA Udhampur Pawan Gupta.Both of them stood up from their seats to counter Larni and shouted him down.
Later Pawan Gupta stood up and made a statement that it was not the handiwork of any organization but they were anti social elements and 18 people are in jail in connection with that incident. He said few days back a driver of Tikri died at his residence and he was informed after he visited his residence that he was beaten by people at Srinagar and had received internal injuries that resulted into his death. But we don’t blame any one and made a hue and cry. He asked MLA don’t name Udhampur in future.
However Anjum Fazli of PDP said that situation has not become critical in Kashmir during PDP rule but the unrest is there for last three decades. She while complimenting the Government said it maintained restraint during last year’s unrest otherwise causalities would have been very high.
Aijaz Ahmad Khan flayed the use of cane charge on SC, ST and employees protesting for their rights in Jammu on Saturday and urged the Government for taking steps for permanent settlement of PoK refugees and implementation of e-governance. He demanded proper implementation of schemes and establishment of new administrative units. He also demanded for filling up of various posts in different departments. He advocated for establishing police station and for paying special attention towards the development of tourism sector in his constituency of Gool-Arnas.
Choudhary Sukhnandan Kumar complemented the Government for taking various initiatives for welfare of Gujjar and Bakerwal community in the State. He called for conducting DPC of 23 BDOs working in Jammu as it has been already done in Kashmir. He urged the Government for paying special focus towards the development especially of rural areas in his Constituency.
Mubarak Gul urged the Government to take effective steps towards winning the trust of the people and demanded Judicial Commission against the human and property losses during the Summer unrest. He urged the Government to take concrete steps for attracting the tourists to the State.
Mohammed Yousuf Bhat complimented the Chief Minister for taking various initiatives for the welfare of the people and called for actively implementing the ‘Agenda of Alliance’. He said everybody must work with utmost dedication for bringing peace to the State and called for reinvestigation of Asia, Neelofar case of Shopian.
Vikar Rasool Wani said the Government should address issues of public importance, saying that interests of the people who have voted members to the Legislative Assembly must be safeguarded. He said the developmental works launched by the current dispensation must be reviewed for the successful implementation.
Sat Paul Sharma said the Government is working on Agenda of Alliance and is focused towards fulfilling the commitments made to the people for the holistic development of the State. He also defended the demonetization move launched by the Central Government, saying that the move has benefitted all the sections of the society, except those who had accumulated black wealth.
He termed the accession of State with India as full and final and termed Kashmir as an integral part of India. Expressing concern over the settlement of illegal immigrants in the State especially those from Bangladesh and Mynamar he said they can pose threat to the security of the State and Government should maintain a vigil on the organizations who fund them.
Pawan Kumar Gupta said the Government must review the transfer policy and urged to make Information Commission functional. He said effective steps need to be taken for the holistic development of the State and Agenda of Alliance must be implemented in its true form.
Yawar Ahmad Mir lauded the Government for restoring peace and normalcy in Kashmir valley. He also lauded the Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti for her policies to take all the sections of the society on board to bring peace to the State. He said those protesting and pelting stones are astray youth of the valley and asked the Government to adopt a policy to bring them back to the mainstream.
Asgar Ali Karbalie said the balanced approach is must for the overall development of all three regions of the State and Ladakh region should be given equal opportunities in development.
Altaf Ahmad Wani said the projects initiated by the previous Government should be taken up and completed and said the Government should also work on the Lidder Valley Golf course for its beautification and renovation.
Shakti Raj Parihar said the PDP-BJP coalition is backed by the mandate of the majority of the people and the Government is making all out efforts to reach out to them with all the pro-people policies. He said all the sections of the society in Doda area live in harmony and demanded regularization of employees working in different departments.
Abdul Rahim Rather urged the Government to undertake effective implementation of agenda of alliance and called for review of Public Safety Act (PSA) cases in Kashmir valley. He demanded adequate compensation to Maqsood, missing person of his constituency who is not traceable since last so many years.
M Y Tarigami asked for a concrete amicable solution to Kashmir and said there should be a consensus on the same. He demanded dialogue with all stakeholders and called for a delegation under the chairmanship of Chief Minister which will impress upon GoI for a solution to the vexed issues confronting the State. He asked the Government to digitize police and revenue records and demanded implementation of police reforms according to Supreme Court guidelines.
He also called for undertaking the reorganization of the Information Department besides addressing social security of employees. Tarigami demanded for constitution of a Planning Commission for equitable distribution of funds to different constituencies.
Dalden Namgiyal demanded Union Territory status to Ladakh and called for opening of Siachen glacier for tourism related activities. He also called for increase in BADP funds for Nobra constituency.
Ali Mohammad Sagar demanded all party delegation to be sent to Delhi to discuss solution to the Kashmir problem.
Neelam Kumar Langeh demanded regularization policy for Special Police Officers (SPOs) and asked the Government to renew gun licenses. He also called for expediting appointments to be made under SR0-43 and making it time bound.
Mian Altaf Ahmed demanded for construction of Zojila Tunnel and taking step to improve the road connectivity of the State. He urged the Government to pay special attention toward the development of the people living in border areas.
Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar said concrete steps are needed to be taken to resolve the issues confronting J&K and advocated for Judicial Probe into the human loss during recent unrest in Kashmir. He called for stopping extension of employee’s service and expediting clearance of pending SRO-43 cases in his constituency. He urged the Government to take concrete measures to improve the roads and overall infrastructure of his constituency.
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