Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, July 4: Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman, Mirwaiz Mohammad Umar Farooq today said that the holy month of Ramadhan provides an opportunity to people to fulfill their religious duties and also to talk about their social problems.
Addressing a religious gathering at Masjid Rehmat in Lal Bazaar here, Mirwaiz stated that in this holy month, there was a need for every individual to realize his responsibilities towards bringing in reforms in the society based on Islamic values, teachings of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and in tandem with a civilized cultural set-up.
“Ramadhan teaches us discipline. By refraining from taking food and water from dawn to dusk, one learns how to remain patient, determined and courageous in difficult times,” Mirwaiz said.
Expressing concern over the rising social evils and gradual tearing apart of the social fabric in society, Mirwaiz said: “several issues on social, political and religious fronts were becoming the reason for harming the Islamic identity of Kashmir,” he said. The Hurriyat chief said one of the large issues which we are facing is the menace of corruption.
“It is most unfortunate that corruption is so wide spread from top to bottom in the system that one can’t get your work done without offering a bribe in most of the Government institutions,” he said.
Mirwaiz further said that Kashmiris are “fighting for the exercise of right to self determination, New Delhi since 1947 has always promoted corruption as a means of political concession to tighten their grip on Kashmir and weaken the struggle with the aid of this corruption weapon”.
“On the one hand, Kashmiris were being economically exploited and their political aspirations suppressed by means of force and on the other, the evil of corruption was being utilized by New Delhi in Kashmir like funding of hundreds of Government’s favorite NGO’s, so-called social welfare organizations and hundreds of the namesake Madrassas (seminaries) to weaken the freedom movement and paralyze Kashmir economically so that they always carry a begging bowl looking towards New Delhi,” he alleged.
He said that recently exposed scandals at the State level like BOPEE scam and fake drugs are few incidents where corrupts practices were deliberately promoted. The Hurriyat chairman said unfortunately corruption has attained a status of social acceptability and nobody fears when he indulges in such activity whether it is a government employee or a businessman.
Mirwaiz said that the menace of corruption could be rooted out only if there is well planned strategy and determination to do so and added that prosecuting few people in this regard would hardly bear any result. He urged upon the people to stand against corruption as Holy month of Ramadan provides us the perfect opportunity to rise against this social menace.
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