Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday asserted that the constitutional position enjoyed by the State provides a sound basis of cooperation, mutual trust and tolerance between the people of the State and the rest of the country. She said the this position was the result of reciprocity of the sentiments of the people of the State and rest of the country following the accession of 1947. “When the situation in the entire sub-continent was very bad, people of the State, by acceding to the union, chose a democratic system based on shared ideals of democracy, tolerance and mutual trust”, she said in her Independence Day message.
She said the constitutional status enjoyed by Jammu & Kashmir in the Union is unparallel adding that protecting and strengthening is the collective responsibility of all of us.
Mehbooba Mufti said the extensive legislative powers enjoyed by the State legislature, which are comparable to none in the country, were exemplified recently during the GST Act formulation. “The House debated the issues and the Presidential Order on the subject also ratified the legislative competence and authority of our Assembly,” she said in her address. Describing dialogue as the only way ahead to sort out issues, the Chief Minister said it is her firm belief that dialogue always gives the best solution to any problem.
She added the Agenda of Alliance of the present Government has also declared that dialogue with all stakeholders in the State is the way forward. She said democracy is the battle of ideas and ideas can’t be jailed. “A better idea only can defeat another idea”, she said.
Terming Indo-Pak friendship in the best interests of the State, Mehbooba Mufti said it is the people of the State who bear the brunt of bitterness in relations between the two countries. She said due to the recent tension along the loC, hundreds of people living close to the borders in the State had to migrate to safer places. “Many of them lost their lives, schools in these areas got closed and a lot of them were rendered homeless”, she said in her address.
The Chief Minister, however, noted with satisfaction that despite having lost too much to the violence and uncertainty of the past three decades, people of the State have held high the values and principles Jammu & Kashmir is known for. She said the way in which people of the State stood up against the killing of Amarnath yatries recently is a case example. “This not only reflected the peaceful nature and value system of our people, it also created a soft corner for our people elsewhere in the country”, the Chief Minister remarked in her address.
Describing youth as the future hope of our times, Mehbooba Mufti said in her interactions with the youth of the State she has seen the dreams of a better future. “A future where there is development, respect, guarantee for identity and definitely peace also. We owe it to them. It’s our duty and responsibility too”, she said. She appealed for working unitedly for realizing the dreams of our future generation.
Mehbooba Mufti said the execution of Rs. 80, 000 crore Prime Minister’s Development Package has started unfolding in the State. She said the State Government has formulated an ambitious connectivity plan under which not only the State would be connected to rest of the country through improved road networks but all the regions of the State would also be connected with each other with more roads and tunnels. “Recently the Prime Minister inaugurated Chennai-Nashri tunnel on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway and with the completion of another tunnel at Qazigund the distance on the highway would greatly decrease thus ensuring State’s improved connectivity with rest of the country”, she said. Also, she added, preliminary work on constructing tunnels on Zojila more, Mughal road, Vailoo road and Chattergala on Bani-Bhaderwah road has been started by the Centre and the State Government is also pushing for tunnels at Rajdhani pass on Gurez road and Sadhna top on Karnah road to improve people’s movement across regions in the State.