Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Nov 15: Minister of State for External Affairs and former Army Chief General (Retd) V K Singh today appealed to separatist to come forward for a dialogue for sake of betterment of Jammu and Kashmir. He said that time is not ripe for revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the State.
While addressing a press conference in Srinagar, the Minister asked the separatist leaders to come forward and engage with them for the sake of the State. “Come forward and let us find a way which should be good for Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Singh, however, said that the separatists don’t come forward. “Anybody can come and meet us. The biggest problem is that they don’t come up,” he said.
The Minister said that his party will do well in the State as the successive Governments have not brought development for the people. “I am quite sure that the people, like rest of the country, will choose development as the main plank. The party will do extremely well because none of the parties, mainstream or otherwise in Jammu and Kashmir has brought in development for people,” he added.
Singh said that no party has benefitted the people of the State and time has come for them to choose a party that fulfils their developmental needs. “None of them has benefited the people so far and so I think a time has come for the people to choose a party which will stand by them in the developmental needs of the State,” he said.
Targeting the State Government for not providing succor to the people during floods, Singh said: “We have seen what has happened in the recent floods… I can keep narrating incidents to you where the Governments have floundered out here. And these are the parties which are saying that they want to get maximum seats in the elections.”
The Minister said that the ultimate aim of the Central Government is to transfer money directly to the bank accounts of flood victim is to annihilate the brokers who take undue advantage and deprive the victims from the sum which they deserve. “We want to ensure that the assistance that will come from the Union Government should reach to the deserved ones,” he added.
Questioning the assessment of floods loses in Jammu and Kashmir by the State Government, Singh asked it to explain what yardstick they have adopted in assessing these losses. “If State Government wants a package of Rs 44,000 crores for the flood victims, then it has to complete all the formalities. Has State Government collected whole data about the devastation that floods caused? Did it mention how many houses were destroyed and did it include people in this process. What yardstick was adopted for the assessment of the losses?”
The Minister said that that revocation of Article 370 was never a poll plank of BJP but it was only development that was the poll plank of BJP. “Our party had said that we should relook at all the issues in the country that are source of nuisance and had never claimed that we will revoke or amend Article 370,” he said.
Singh said that his party wants a discussion on various such things for the benefit of the people of the country. “Article 370 is there in the country, is part of the constitution. All that we said in the party at some point of time that there are lot of such things in the country which need to be discussed so that we can ensure that these work for the benefit of the people,” he said.
The former Army Chief said that the time is not opportune for the revocation of AFSPA. “The way people are being intimidated and asked to boycott the polls clearly indicates that time is not ripe for the revocation of AFSPA. Let the Assembly elections be over and a time will come this law will be repealed,” he added.
On his Kashmir visit, Singh said that he has come here to meet the people who are in the party and those who are fighting the polls. “I have come here to meet our people who are in the party organisation. I have come here to meet the people who are our candidates and get a feel how things are going,” he said.
On the issue of Hindu Chief Minister raised by certain parties, the BJP leader said only insecure political leaders talk about such things. “When people start feeling insecure they start talking of such things. No sane political leader, no mature political leader will ever talk of things like this,” he said.
On posters that appeared in parts of Kashmir asking people to stay away from polls, Singh said: “When people start putting up posters it shows that they are absolutely insecure. They know their influence is going down.”
The BJP leader said that everyone wants development and better life style and it is not going to come through separatists and militants. “I am quite sure people of Kashmir want development, people of Kashmir want a similar type of lifestyle which rest of the country enjoys. They want all facilities which should come and these are not going to come by Hizbul Mujahideen, they are not going to come by any separatists who have some other agendas,” he said.
Singh said that development can be ensured when people take part in the democratic process by electing a Government that can do something for their betterment. He kept the option of post poll alliance for the formation of Government in the State open. “Let the polls get over, we will decide. These things will only come up once the elections take place and we come to know how the things are”, he added.
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