Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar Oct 1: Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a visionary and said that for making India as big power friendly relations with neighbours is a must.
While addressing a gathering at Pahalgam in South Kashmir this afternoon after inaugurating Pahalgam Club, Mufti said: “The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi who forwarded hand of friendship towards Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, has strategic vision and I believe in that. I am saying if he has to make India as a big power, he has to be friendly with negibours including Pakistan and Central Asia that is mineral rich.”
Chief Minister while quoting the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said: “The friends can be changed but not the neighbours.”
Mufti said that his association with Modi was mind boggling and unprecedented. “Some people say what has Modi given to Mufti, even my party men and Ministers say this. I say that this is transformation, this is change, this is developmental phase. It is mind boggling, it is unprecedented.”
On the issue of forging alliance with BJP for forming Government in the State, Mufti Sayeed said Modi is totally focused on the development of Jammu and Kashmir. “I must say the Prime Minister has a vision for overall and equitable development of the State,” he said.
And a day after Pakistani Prime Minister raised the Kashmir issue at United Nations, Mufti said that Jammu and Kashmir’s future is with India. “I say Jammu and Kashmir’s future is with India. Why? When whole of India was on fire in the name of religion on the basis of two nation theory, the only State before 1947,which rejected it was Jammu and Kashmir.”
Chief Minister while describing Jammu and Kashmir as a symbol of diversity said the State holds a special place as the only Muslim majority State in the federal structure of the country.
Mufti credited Vajpayee, in building confidence amongst the people in the democratic institutions of the country and ensuring free and fair elections in 2002, which saw People’s Democratic Party (PDP) emerge as a force to reckon with. “I am grateful to Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he said from Red Fort that the elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be fair. Our candidate Qazi defeated Omar Abdullah”, he added.
Chief Minister favoured dialogue between India and Pakistan for ushering in lasting peace in the region. He said gun never has and never will be able to overpower the peace loving people of the State.
Hailing the farsightedness of the leaders during the country’s freedom struggle, the Chief Minister said the future of the State lies with India, as Mahatma Gandhi saw a ray of hope in J&K when the entire country was burning in a communal frenzy in the days leading to independence. “J&K is a bouquet of three distinct cultures where people of all faiths have lived in complete harmony for decades,” he said, while hailing the State’s unique multiculturalism.
Referring to the difficult times the State fell upon during the last two decades, the Chief Minister said the basic elements of brotherhood and mutual co-existence have remained unscathed all these years, which is a tribute to the people of the State. He recalled with sadness the days of turmoil which forced people to leave their home and hearth. “I look forward to the day when those sons of soil will return to their native places,” he hoped.
Describing peace as a prerequisite for development of the State, Mufti Sayeed recalled his initiative of uniting the divided families across the Line of Control in 2005 by launching the cross-LoC bus service. “I still remember how people became nostalgic and looked with tearful eyes when the first bus arrived in Srinagar from Muzaffarbad,” he stated.
Hailing the people for their peace-loving nature and their flexibility in adapting to best practices from other cultures, the Chief Minister also referred to the famed cuisine and handicraft, which were introduced in the Valley during Hazrat Shah Hamdan (RA)’s time and which have remained part of their culture ever since.
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