Excelsior Correspondent
UDHAMPUR, Aug 6: Coming down heavily on the protagonists of trifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference Provincial President Devender Singh Rana on Tuesday described the voices being raised in this regard as anti-national.
“Jammu and Kashmir has to shine, prosper and progress as a single entity”, he declared while addressing National Conference workers at Jaganoo, here, this afternoon.
The Provincial President referred to the great role of his party in maintaining unity of the State by ensuring equitable development and assuaging the socio-economic and cultural aspirations of the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. He castigated those demanding separate statehood for Jammu and said this speaks of their myopic political understanding and divisive mindset. Such tendencies are needed to be curbed and nipped in the bud, he said, adding that the secular and democratic people of the State will have to play their useful and crucial role in this regard.
“Unity in diversity has been great strength of culturally and linguistically diverse Jammu and Kashmir, which the proud people have demonstrated unequivocally during most testing times”, Mr Rana said. He cautioned the elements inimical to the State’s unity and its plurality, saying they stand exposed and marginalised for pursuing anti-people agenda with political short sightedness. “The people have rejected these forces with the contempt they deserved”, he maintained.
In a veiled reference to the bonhomie of frustrated political entities like People’s Democratic Party, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Panthers Party, Mr Rana said they make a common cause when it comes to dividing the people for furthering their nefarious agenda. “As a representative and responsible party, National Conference will fight tooth and nail the elements against larger public interest”, he said, assuring the people that his party will strive hard for the legitimate cause of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mr Rana questioned the political legitimacy of PDP, which he alleged was hobnobbing with BJP in Jammu for deriving assumptive electoral gains by becoming a partner in whipping up divisive and communal passions. They did their worst in 2008 by polarising the situation in the two regions of the State for deriving political mileage.
Terming Panthers Party as Team-C of BJP-PDP combine, Mr Rana said that the party has bartered the interests of the people in lieu of loaves of power, even if it meant compromising with the mandate the people had given them. He criticised the Panthers legislators for ignoring developmental needs of their constituencies.
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