Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 8: Maintaining that confrontation yields no solution to any problem, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today endorsed late Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s doctrine of resolving disputes through dialogue and talks.
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“Mufti Sayeed’s belief that confrontation yields no solution and all disputes come to an end through talks only is very right in present time and there is no alternative to this doctrine,” he said while addressing a gathering after receiving the first ‘Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Probity in Politics & Public Life Award’ at a function here today.
Governor N N Vohra, who presided over the function, conferred the award to Nitish Kumar in presence of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, J&K Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, renowned economist and Indian origin UK politician Lord Meghnad Desai and others.
The Award has been instituted by the ruling PDP to commemorate the death anniversary of its founder and two-time Chief Minister late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Mufti, who had passed away on January 7, 2016.
After receiving the award, Nitish Kumar said that the award was an honour of Bihar people. “It is moment of happiness for me and Bihar that I am honoured by Jammu and Kashmir. My focus is on development, peace and a corruption free and transparent governance in Bihar”, he said while lauding Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for following the footprints of her father late Mufti Mohd Sayeed in serving the people.
Nitish Kumar, who had closely worked with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in the then VP Singh Government at the Centre, narrated his long association with the late leader and said that he always found a great leader in the Mufti, who was concerned about the welfare of his people.
“During 2003, as then Railway Minister, I worked with late Mufti Sayeed and found him very keen to extend railway network to Kashmir to rid the region off economic backwardness. It was difficult to carry forward work on Udhampur-Katra-Baramulla rail link due to some communication gaps but he (late Mufti Sayeed) persuaded us to work on the project seriously”, he told the gathering.
Kumar added that the late leader was very keen on preserving the heritage and old cultural pattern of the place and during the construction of Srinagar Railway station he, as the Chief Minister, took keen interest in maintaining and preserving the grandeur of the place.
Earlier, on the occasion, renowned economist, columnist and British Parliamentarian, Lord Meghnad Desai delivered the first Mufti Mohd Sayeed Memorial Lecture on the subject `Devolving Power: The British Experience’ in which he traced the legal and Constitutional journey of the British society.
Sharing the British experience, he sought to project a roadmap for resolution of contentious demand of referendum by a handful of people in Jammu and Kashmir. However, at the same time, the Indian origin UK politician insisted that he was not suggesting solutions to J&K problems but only sharing the British experience of devolving power.
He narrated how the devolving power pacified the demand of separation from United Kingdom by some sections in different regions to a great extent.
Ministers, legislators, public representatives, officers, intellectuals and people from different walks of life attended the function.
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