SRINAGAR — People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidates, if elected, will raise the issues of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and become their voice in the Parliament, party chief Mehbooba Mufti said here on Friday.
Mufti made the remarks at a press conference at the party headquarters while releasing the manifesto for the Parliamentary polls.
“Since August 2019, J&K has been converted into an open-air prison after the illegal abrogation of Article 370. There has been an unending onslaught on our collective identity, land, jobs, resources and infringement upon the very freedom to speak. A series of decisions taken on a daily basis thousands of kilometres away in Delhi serve only to disempower and dispossess us,” Mufti alleged.
She said there is a need to raise our voice against this “onslaught” on the floor of the Parliament.
“Right from the drastic changes to the state subject and land laws to the outsourcing of our resources by gifting contracts to outsiders. Even development projects are being handed over to non-locals.
“Hundreds of government employees have been fired on flimsy grounds. Thousands of youngsters continue languishing in jails in and outside J&K as undertrials,” she alleged.
She said if the party’s candidates are elected to the Parliament, they will raise their voice on these issues on behalf of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The former J&K chief minister also said the party’s elected representatives would focus on the youth of J&K and accordingly their MPLAD funds will be focussed on youth-centric programmes.
She also said her priority will be to have tunnels constructed on the Mughal Road, Razdan Pass and Sadhna Pass, which remain cut-off for many months due to heavy snowfall.
The party’s manifesto said while the “illegal” abrogation of Article 370 has only “complicated the issue”, the PDP remains committed to facilitating the resolution of the Kashmir issue through reconciliation and dialogue with its key stakeholders.
“A state which has suffered tremendously needs a healing touch to restore peace with dignity,” the manifesto added. — (PTI)