Doda, Aug 08: Former chief minister and Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday said he will stand like a rock to defend the interests of local people and will not allow anyone to take over the local resources since the people of Jammu and Kashmir are its primary stakeholders.
Azad lashed out over the prevailing regime and said that the “misgovernance” and lack of transparency in the system has pushed the people of the UT to the wall and the government of India must hold the assembly elections here. “It is unconstitutional to deny people for so long their democratic right to choose their representatives. Jammu and Kashmir which was one of the oldest states of the country cannot be governed administratively. We need development, good governance and public participation to keep democracy alive in this part of the country,” he said while addressing a gathering of workers at Bhagwah, Dessa in Doda.
Azad said whatever good he had done in Jammu and Kashmir as chief minister; the present regime is “destroying it brick by brick”. “Be it the Roshni scheme, or other socioeconomic projects all have been targeted and people are systematically disempowered,” he said.
Under the Roshni scheme, the people were empowered to secure their livelihoods and the hospitals were built for the proper treatment of patients, roads were built to connect people and the economy. “You can see now not only land rights were snatched, these hospitals have staff deficiency, roads are not maintained which has hit the economy of common people,” he said.
The DPAP chairman said that if he is elected to power, he will restore the Roshni scheme and will create abundant job opportunities for the local youth. He also assured employment to labourers saying they are forced now to migrate to other states to earn their livelihood.
Azad criticized those who are opposing Article 370 and said he is hopeful of a positive outcome from the Supreme Court where the batch of petitions is being heard on a day-to-day basis.
“Those who oppose Article 370 are actually ignorant of Jammu Kashmir’s history, politics and geography. Article 370 was aimed to benefit the UT, not any particular community, religion or region. We are hopeful Supreme Court will restore it since its abrogation was illegal,” he said.
