Stresses for farmers’ type of agitation
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 29: Member Legislative Assembly (MLA) Doda and Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) leader, Mehraj Malik, today said that the National Conference (NC)-led Government is failing to deliver and is not ready to put up a fight for the restoration of Statehood.
Speaking to Excelsior, Malik emphasized that the Government lacks the will to fight, stating that a protest on the scale of the farmers’ agitation is needed to reclaim Statehood from the Centre.
“There are questions in the minds of the people, but those questions do not come to the fore. The ongoing discussion on ground clearly shows that NC is failing,” he said.
“I told them that the Centre won’t hand over Statehood on a platter. They already have the Lieutenant Governor here-why would they want to transfer power back to a Chief Minister? They have to fight for it,” he said.
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Malik said that the elected Government does not want to fight because they don’t want to face difficulties,
“They’re fine with people running after them in awe, but they won’t take any concrete action. They’re more focused on strangling people,” he added.
On withdrawing support from the NC-led Government, the MLA said he had hoped for change when people gave NC a massive mandate. But, he added, nothing has changed on the ground so far.
He noted that while his withdrawal may not topple the Government, it will at least send a strong message that something is fundamentally wrong on the ground.
“I was told that casual labourers would be regularized within six months, but that didn’t happen-so I withdrew my support. Initially, I backed them for the betterment of the people, and now I’ve withdrawn it for the same reason,” he said.
Mehraj also accused the Government of enabling the mining mafia to thrive in J&K by keeping mining illegal instead of regulating it under a formal policy.
“They can stop the mining mafia-so why aren’t they doing it? I had asked them to legalize mining. By keeping it illegal, they’ve allowed the mafia to flourish. They could have framed a proper policy and provided livelihood to the people,” he said.
He further noted that even if Statehood is restored, the current leadership lacks the capability to deliver. “They can’t do anything. They had Article 370 earlier, and still did nothing,” he added.
On his recent controversy revolving around doctors, Malik stressed that the aspirations of the people are aligned with his own and he will ensure that the wishes of people are fulfilled.
“The condition of Government hospitals is visible to all. When I ask doctors to perform their duties, it’s because I see the hopes and expectations of the people. And to fulfill them, I will take every necessary step-even if it means a fight,” he added.
Malik added that he is willing to either confront or compromise-whichever benefits the public. “I will not hesitate to act against those who try to belittle or disrespect the people. This will continue until the system is corrected. I will keep reminding everyone of their responsibilities,” he added.
He stressed that with genuine intent, change is possible. “I haven’t reached here by exploiting people’s emotions or by buying votes. I’ve always told people their votes can bring real change,” he said.
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