Excelsior Correspondent
GANDERBAL, Apr 29: The Opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) today advocated for continuation of dialogue process with Pakistan for peace and prosperity in the sub-continent.
“I met the Prime Minister (Dr Manmohan Singh) and told him that we should strive to take forward the dialogue process with Pakistan. It is on the brink of electing a new Government and there will not be General Musharraf now. So, comprehensive dialogue process with the new Government there should go on,” PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said while addressing a public meeting here.
Sayeed said there is a need to take Jammu and Kashmir out of the prevailing situation of uncertainty by winning people’s hearts and minds.
“We have to take Jammu and Kashmir out of the situation of uncertainty. We have to win the hearts and minds of the people to achieve peace and prosperity in the State,” he said.
While the PDP expects a decisive mandate in the next elections it would strive to run the State through consensus by involving other political stake holders as well,”,he said.
Mufti said the party’s agenda for resolution of Kashmir issue was under implementation when its tenure ended. But the unfinished business has to be completed and for that we will need every body’s active cooperation and support, he said and added a sense of participation in power of every section is essential for the success of any historic effort that we intend to make.
Mufti said though he treats public endorsement and power through elections as an honour bestowed by the people but his actual ambition at this stage of life is to bring the State out of the morass of uncertainty and instability. He said that might have happened by now if the process had not been snapped in 2008 mainly because of the tactical rigging in some seats including Srinagar.
Mufti said next elections, whenever they are held will be conducted on the comparative performance of political parties both in Govt and in Opposition. He said solid issues will be there for people to vote for. While on the top will be the political resolution of Jammu and Kashmir, important economic issues like the power crisis will have to be debated and brought into public attention for its solution. For the PDP, he said return of power projects and renegotiation of terms with the NHPC will be of crucial importance.
Mufti said unemployment is a huge challenge and we will need to have a clear policy on tackling it and providing remunerative and dignified jobs to our educated and skilled population. He said the present Government has utterly failed on this crucial front and instead of having resolved their problems it has targeted the youth as ‘enemies of the State’ and demonized them as stone pelters, drug addicts and criminals.
In his address, former Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig said the NC has cheated all sections of the population, every area and every region of the State. He said Ganderbal was the worst victim of the NC’s political exploitation. He said the party cannot identify a single significant achievement in Ganderbal district ever since 1975 when Sheikh Abdullah first secured the mandate of people from there.
Baig said NC was neck deep in corruption and in order to escape public scrutiny it is trying to paint its political opponents also with the same brush. Questioning the source of income of the Abdullah family, Baig said no member of its three generations had held a regular job or conducted a known business. How is it that the family is sitting on property worth crores in the State and outside?
Party’s chief spokesperson Naeem Akhtar, former Minister Qazi Mohammed Afzal, district president Bandipore Yasir Reshi, Vice President Ganderbal district Bashir Ahmad Mir, Sernior Leader Javaid Nizami and others were also present.
Follow our WhatsApp channel