Srinagar: Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on Thursday while striking a chord with the people of Jammu and Kashmir said that he and his party BJP are working hard towards bridging the distances between them and Delhi and bring the hearts closer. “Hum Dil ki doori and Dilli se doori mita rahe hain (we are removing the interspace between the hearts and from Delhi),” he said while addressing a rally here.
He said that his government has already committed itself in the Parliament to restoring J&K’s statehood. “The BJP will fulfil this promise. The BJP implements fully what it says or promises. I, therefore, appeal to you to come out on September 25 to vote in its favour and break all previous records (of voter turnout)”.
After opening his speech with extending greetings to the people in Kashmiri, the Prime Minister said that he had come to Srinagar with the message that his vision for J&K is “speed up development works to take it to new heights of success.” He said, “It is Modi’s goal and promise as well to make J&K completely terror free, to defeat every conspiracy that is hatched against it and every power which lays a plan to damage it and make it a peaceful and prosperous region,” he said.
Accusing the ‘three political dynastic’- the Gandhis, the Abdullahs and the Muftis- of obliterating several generations of the Kashmiri youth to remain in power and pluck the day, he said, “I’m buckled down with utmost honesty to restore peace here. I won’t allow these three families to ruin J&K further.” He also promised a dignified life for its youth by providing them proper employment befitting their aptitude.
He said that he felt a deep sense of contentment over the first phase of the J&K Assembly registering a record turnout on Wednesday. He said, “It is a source of satisfaction and contentment for me that the people of four districts of the Kashmir Valley and three of the Jammu region yesterday celebrated the festival of democracy by coming out of their homes in huge numbers to vote. The youth, women and elders-all voted wholeheartedly and broke the previous records (of voter turnout) and wrote new history. I feel proud.” He added, “The world is watching how people of J&K are expressing their aspiration to touch the new heights by strengthening Indian democracy. I congratulate you for this.”
The first phase of the J&K Assembly elections held on September 18 had recorded a 61.13 percent voter turnout in 24 constituencies across seven districts. The second and third phase of the voting are scheduled to be held on September 25 and October 1, respectively.
In an obvious reference to the alleged rigging done during the 1987 J&K Assembly elections, the Prime Minister said that it shattered the faith of the youth of the erstwhile state in democracy. “Three families trampled underfoot the democracy and Kashmiriyat (the ethno-national and social consciousness and cultural values of the Kashmiri people) here. What did they do in the 1980s here? They had considered politics as their fiefdom. They wouldn’t allow anyone else to come forward. They withheld the elections to Panchayats, BDCs and DDCs. They did not want new faces to emerge on the political arena to ensure their own hereditary continuity”, he said.
The Prime Minister said, “The result of all this was the people lost their faith in the vote. They thought that even if they vote in favour of someone else the results will come in favour of these three families and their staying away from voting would make these families happy.”
“But now the tide has turned. Democracy is being celebrated here as well. The people’s faith in the vote has been restored. People now strongly believe that it is the vote through which they can change a situation. They have realised that voting is the first ladder to achieve success. Their hope and expectations have livened up,” he said.
The Prime Minister said that during his recent visit to J&K, he had said that the Parivarvad of the Congress, the National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had hollowed out and destroyed the beautiful state of J&K “which has exasperated these people from Delhi to Srinagar”. He added, “Apparently, these three families think no one can question them. They want to occupy the chair anyhow. They think it is their birthright to loot you. It is their political agenda to deprive the people of their genuine rights, to inflict J&K with violence, dread and chaos only.”
Mr. Modi, however, quickly added, “But now J&K is not going to remain fettered by these three families. Now the youth of this place, the youth who were not allowed by them to move ahead, the very youth against whom they jumped-up is challenging them. The youth of this place suffered enormously and remained in pain when these three families were in power.”
He said that many of the Kashmir Valley’s youth who are in the age group of 20-30 have remained bereft of education because it would take them many years to get into the higher classes. “It was not there because they failed (in the examinations). It happened because the three families of the Congress, the NC and the PDP had failed,” he said.
The Prime Minister accused these families of spreading hatred for decades to “run their political shops.” He said, “In Kashmir, schools would be burnt down, and the flames that would ignite the fire would be sold at naftar ka bazaar (the market of hatred) run by them only.’ He said the successive governments of these parties did not build any new schools but would, instead, embolden those who were torching the existing ones. “The schools and colleges that escaped this mayhem remained shut for months for students. The youth remained out of colleges and schools and, therefore, away from education. They took stones in their hands which made these three families happy. They ruined their future for their own gain,” he said.
The Prime Minister said that today all schools and colleges in Kashmir are running smoothly and there are no stones but pens, books and laptops in the hands of the Valley’s children. “Today, you don’t get the news of schools being burned here but that of new schools, colleges, AIIMSs and other medical institutions and IITs opened here. I want our children in this place to study and excel,” he said.
Mr. Modi while giving the report card of the last five years said that about fifty thousand children dropped out of schools for no fault of theirs were re-enrolled, 15,000 children were admitted for pre-schooling, 2.5 lakh were promoted to high classes, new degree and engineering colleges and polytechnics are coming up across J&K whereas 1,100 new medical, 1,500 nursing and 1,600 para-medical seats were added to its kitty. He said the BJP, if voted to power in J&K, has planned to enhance it further, take revolutionary steps for skill development and give jobs to the youth without any underhanded tactics.
He said that it is because of the dedication shown by his government that Srinagar’s city centre Lal Chowk has been transformed from a place where hoisting the tricolour was a life-threatening act to a vibrant destination which is now welcoming domestic and foreign tourists. He asserted, “There was a time when coming to Lal Chowk and hoisting the tricolour was a life-threatening task. For years people here were afraid of coming to Lal Chowk,” he said.
He said that when “these three families” were ruling the roost even the sacred places of Hazratbal, Charar-e-Sharief, Jama Masjid, Naqshband Sahab, Shankaracharya, Sharikadevi and Khir Bawani temple were not safe. Cinemas were locked, no movie shootings were being done here
He added, “But now the picture has changed. Now the markets of Srinagar are full of the splendour of both Eid and Diwali. Now, Lal Chowk market remains bustling till late evening, with tourists coming here from all over the country and the world.”