Says Gulmarg has been hosting national level winter games since 1998
Jammu 26 February: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Friday stated that GOI was glossing over its failures to bring about the much touted development and prosperity it had promised while unilaterally and unconstitutionally abrogating and dismembering the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
Nailing the lies churned by the GOI on ushering development in Jammu and Kashmir, Party’s Additional General Secretary Dr Sheikh Mustafa Kamal said the high frequency indicators of the GOI itself gave a conclusive picture of the gross mismanagement of J&K by the BJP led central government. He said the ruling BJP was now resorting to selling the initiatives undertaken by previous governments in new packaging to gloss over its failures and ineptness. On the contrary the ruling BJP which helms the administration in J&K through its airdropped bureaucracy has pulled off the region from the track of development. The widespread unemployment, limited investment of private players in Jammu and Kashmir explains it all. “A simple analysis of the SRS, HDI, and NFHS data does not in any case imply the people of J&K have been alleviated from poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment. On the contrary more than a year after the unconstitutional and unilateral abrogation of Articles 370, 35-A the state has been faring badly on all economic indicators,” he said.
The unemployment in J&K Kamal remarked was above national level average. In the field of new investment, he said J&K’s share has dropped from 0.5 to 0.2 and 0. “It has shown any substantial improvement since. One is at its wits end to ascertain what qualifies as development in Jammu and Kashmir to the ruling BJP,” he added.
The measures undertaken on the 5th of August, he said have come with a steep cost to the people of J&K in the form of scuttling their freedom and constitutional rights with domicile laws, high-handed media policy, notifying strategic areas. The picture, he said, was suffocating.
He said it was comical to see GOI selling “Khelo India” as a template of normalcy nationally and globally “The fact remains that Gulmarg has been hosting national level winter games since 1998. It was during the Dr Farooq led government that the dream of bringing Gulmarg on the map of global adventure tourism was realized. In all those years, Gulmarg continued to host winter sports extravaganza attracting national as well international tourists. In 2009, about 30 foreign skiers had participated in the winter sports apart from hundreds of athletes from J&K and hundreds more from other government departments,” he added.
He also remarked that selling such superficial exercises as peace won’t help New Delhi get anticipated dividends. While welcoming the DGMO level agreement on ceasefire along LOC, and IB in Jammu and Kashmir, he said peace in its real sense could only be achieved if the agreement is followed in letter and spirit and used as a stepping stone for further engagement.
