Srinagar: Former chief minister and chairman of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), Ghulam Nabi Azad, made a passionate plea to the public today on the one anniversary of the founding day of his party to help him in “steering Jammu and Kashmir out of the present crisis.”
“I can dry the tears of my suffering people and have a plan for resolving the economic and social issues. Support me and my party as we work to execute the plan and realise my goal, Azad said in a speech to a crowd here. The purpose of DPAP’s founding was the major topic of his speech. Additionally, he discussed the effects of the repeal of Articles 370, 35A, and 35B, the postponement of the assembly election, social and economic concerns, unemployment, and the rise of drug abuse among young people.
Some rumours that were going around on social media that he was being named the next Lieutenant Governor of J&K were deemed incorrect by Chairman DPAP.The most recent speculation is that Ghulam Nabi Azad would soon become the lieutenant governor. Am I employed and did I go to Jammu & Kashmir in search of work? About 50 years ago, when I earned my M Sc with a first-class grade from Kashmir University, I did not work for the government. And now how can I work for the government. I’ve gone to J&K to help the locals rather than find work. Even in 2005, I resigned from my position as minister for legislative affairs and urban development to serve the people of this region as chief minister. According to him, the ministry of legislative affairs and urban development are both significant ministries.
The previous chief minister pleaded with the populace to disregard such rumours. “Such tales used to travel slowly, but thanks to the internet and smart phones, they now do so quickly. As I did when serving as chief minister in the past, I wish to serve the people of Jammu and Kashmir. You must help me with it. The feeling of public duty will stay with me even if I am unable to get that support,” he stated.
Azad said that there are far more problems in J&K now. He believed that the political missteps made by the state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1947 were to blame. The DPAP chairman said he doesn’t want to go into specifics about who acted improperly or correctly. But it is a reality that these political blunders caused the state to go in the opposite direction, rather than ahead. During the last nine year a great political mistake was committed when Article 370 and Article 35 A and 35 B were abrogated. Lot of people do not know that Article 35 A and 35 B did not come after independence but those laws were brought by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1925 and 1927 and finally the state subject was given legal shape in 1930.”Perhaps the BJP would not have abrogated the articles if they were aware of the true facts. Maharaja was told (by his advisors) at that time to take such measures to prevent the well off Punjabi Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs living in Lahore to purchase land in J&K and take jobs also. Later those laws were adopted after independence and some other guarantees were made in Article 370,” he said.
Azad added that after the abrogation of the Article 370, 35 A and 35 B, “an uncertainty began in J&K whether this land will remain ours or not.” “ Government made efforts to take the land. During my time as chief minister, I made a law that if some government land is under the occupation of a person for 20 years, it will be given to him. My government made the law in assembly and no party voted against it. But that land too was taken back. The people in J&K do not have land for agriculture since 80 percent of the land is under mountains and forests. The government land is for people and people are not for government land,”he said.
Referring to the delaying in assembly polls, the former chief minister said that there is no end to the wait for polls. “Nobody knows when exactly these elections will be held,”he said.
Azad stated that Jammu and Kashmir is presently facing serious economic problems. “Inflation is badly hitting the people. It is true that inflation is not in India only but in entire world including America and Britain . The inflation is worst in Europe. But our’ s is a poor country. Other countries have other resources. We do not have those resources. We have very less land for agriculture. The crop production also depends on weather conditions. If there is hailstorm the crops are finished. If there are heavy rains or drought the crops get damaged. If fruits are not transported to markets on time they can get damaged. These things are not in our control. Our economic conditions depend upon tourism and employment,” the DPA chairman said.
Azad urged for creation of more tourist destinations and said during his government hundreds of new tourist sports were identified for development.
He alleged that the unemployed people are not getting employment. “How many times the interviews were conducted but the jobs are not provided. We have social problems. Due to the situation during last 30 years people lost lives. Parents lost their kids, women got widowed and children orphaned. Employment is no- where. This is not only an economic issue only but has become a social issues also. Lakhs of our educated youth are unemployed. Their parents had invested whatever they had for the education of these youth. We have to come out of these economic and social crisis. We cannot come out with mere sloganeering or through lectures and speeches but with proper planning and the execution of the plans.” Azad said.
He also expressed serious concern over the increasing drug addiction problem among the youth and urged for a joint fight on all levels against this menace. He said the main reason for drug addiction is unemployment among the youth. The former chief minister advocated death sentence for those who earned wealth by smuggling drugs.
Azad appealed the youth to join his party with sincere intentions to serve the people.”Unfortunately money has become a big factor in present day politics, while in past the emphasis was being laid on public service. I am telling the youth to join my party with good intentions to serve people and not to earn money. I discourage those who are after money,” he said.
The former chief minister said that when he founded DPAP he sometimes thought whether he had not committed a mistake by doing so. ” But when I met cross section of people, visited far flung areas, I found my decision was right. Going by my performance as chief minister the people want that era of development to coming back. During that short period of two and a half years my government did the work of 15 years. An unprecedented era of development was started and carried forward. Haj House, Yatri Niwas, Assembly building and large number of buildings including that for hospitals and schools besides roads and bridges were constructed in shortest possible time,” he said.
“I was working for 18 hours in 24 hours as chief minister. But now I feel even 24 hours work will not be sufficient if I become chief minister going by the expectations of my people,” Azad said.
