The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday (May 2) held a meeting of the members of its Political Affairs Committee in Srinagar and underlined the need to maintain peace along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, and revive SAARC as a platform for lasting peace in J&K.
The joint resolution passed by the PDP after the meeting, chaired by party president Mehbooba Mufti, said the ceasefire on the LoC “should be used as an opportunity to revive the environment and peace process from the point at which it was left in 2005”.
“Resumption of trade and travel should be prioritised along with the restoration of J&K State’s constitutional status,” the resolution said.
The PDP said the muscular policies adopted by the BJP in J&K had been a complete flop. “Any process for lasting peace has to be led by the people and aided by our government and Pakistan. While forums like the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and G-20 are important for their diplomatic value, SAARC has the potential for changing the lives of the largest mass of poverty-stricken people inhabiting South Asia,” it said.
The joint resolution said that it is through the revival of SAARC and establishment of lasting peace with dignity in J&K that India could genuinely become a “Vishwaguru” and lead its own economic revival, along with its neighbors and the rest of the world.
It said the potential of the youth of J&K was being wasted in prisons on the whims of government agencies. Employment avenues in J&K were being curtailed with the “officially sponsored import” of people from other States in the BJP’s settler project, the PDP said.
“Special settlements are being constructed for outsiders as the local population is evicted from their homes and lands their forefathers owned and tilled down the generations taken away. An economic disempowerment is being executed by bringing in contractors aligned to BJP from outside like the East India Company once did, and looting resources such as water and sand,” it said.
Referring to the removal of special status granted to J&K, the PDP said it resolved to renew its pledge to fight peacefully and democratically for restoration of “our illegally snatched constitutional rights”. It said new narratives were being formed around Kashmir and Ladakh that have only served to further destabilise the region and increase challenges for the defence forces and the economy.
“Photo ops of official events, ribbon-cuttings and bringing in of foreign delegates would in no case hide the fingerprints of the government agencies on a wave of repression and the footprints of the world’s tightest security regime against unarmed civilians and brazen attempts at silencing them,” it said.
The PDP strongly denounced violence of any kind for achieving any goal. “We see with concern the total collapse of the security system in Poonch-Rajouri districts taking a heavy toll on civilians and men in uniform,” it said.
