Excelsior Correspondent
DODA, May 18: Appreciating National Conference cadres for rising to the occasion and extending much needed support to earthquake victims of the Doda region, Additional General Secretary Dr Sheikh Mustaffa Kamaal and Provincial President Devender Singh Rana on Saturday exhorted them to continue their efforts in mitigating sufferings of the people.
“This is a human problem which needs human tackling and not political wrangling”, Mr Rana said while addressing the people at Doda and Bhaderwah. He made a passionate appeal to political parties to rise above party politics and join the hands in mitigating sufferings of the sufferers.
He said while the sufferers deserve love, care and compassion at this hour of natural catastrophe, some elements were making attempts to exploit the situation by using the tremor hit area as a political theatre and the sufferers as actors.
Mr Rana asked the people to ignore the rumours being spread by mischievous elements about the recurrence of earthquakes and said such unfortunate attempts were aimed at creating panic. “This is unfortunate that instead of relieving the people of their agonies, some inhuman elements were aggravating the situation by creating panic”, he said adding that such machinations deserved to be condemned by all right thinking people.
While dispelling the reports about release of over Rs 300 crore for the earthquake affected areas, Mr Rana clarified that this is a routine installment being provided to Jammu and Kashmir under the State Disaster Relief Fund. He, however, said that the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is currently holding a meeting with the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh for seeking an exclusive package for the Doda-Kishtwar and Ramban area and ensure larger coverage of the earthquake victims. He hoped that the Union Ministers Dr Farooq Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad will use their good offices in getting the package approved.
Mr Rana assured the sufferers that the Coalition Government led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was taking all necessary measures for providing relief and ensuring rehabilitation of the affected people.
Addressing the gathering the Additional General Secretary said, “Post quake rehabilitation measures are a gigantic task which call for a collective effort by the Government, non-Governmental organisations and people from all walks of life.”
Dr Kamaal said all out efforts are being made to provide necessary support to the victims to overcome the difficulties caused by the natural calamity. He called for joint efforts by the Government and various organizations in supplementing much needed basic facilities to the sufferers.
He said the focus of the Government is on providing immediate relief to the people, ensuring basic facilities and assessing the damages caused due to the tremors. Emphasising the need for instilling confidence among the people, he cautioned against the nefarious machinations of rumour mongers who were aggravating the situation by creating panic.
The Additional General Secretary, Provincial President and other party leaders are currently camping in the area and meeting the sufferers in the peripheries. The team comprises Babu Ram Paul, former Minister, Sheikh Bashir Ahmed, Provincial Secretary, Th. Kashmira Singh, ex-MLC, Brij Mohan Sharma, ex-MLC, Gurdeep Singh Sassan and Sajjad Shaheen.
Khalid Najeeb Suhrawardy, MLC and District President Doda and Tanveer Ahmed Kitchloo also accompanied them.
Earlier, the National Conference leaders led by Dr. Mustaffa Kamaal visited the most affected areas in Doda, Ghat and Bhaderwah town, met the sufferers and expressed their solidarity with them.
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