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J&K statehood restoration a priority: Ghulam Nabi Azad on new party
The restoration of J&K’s statehood, protection of land and job rights of its natives, and the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits will be the agenda of his yet-to-be-named political party, veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad announced on Sunday at a rally.
The restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, protection of land and job rights of its natives, and the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits will be the agenda of his yet-to-be-named political party, veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad announced on Sunday at a rally, his first since ending his five-decade-long association with the Congress.
The senior leader said he would announce the name of his new party after consulting people and leaders of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Restoration of full statehood, right to land and employment to native domiciles, creating employment and return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits are top on the agenda,” Azad said in his hour-long address to around 20,000 people at Sainik Colony on the outskirts of Jammu.
Full statehood means there is a governor and not the Lt Governor and the legislative assembly should be powerful enough to enact laws, he said.
Also read: J&K people will decide name of my party, flag; will be a Hindustani name: Ghulam Nabi Azad
Stating that the Union territory has a very small number of jobs, the 73-year-old leader added: “Outsiders should not buy land, either in Jammu or Kashmir, and jobs should not be given to them... How many jobs are available in Jammu and Kashmir? It is a trickle of water in a sea.”
Lauding Maharaja Hari Singh, the last Dogra ruler, for his vision of introducing land and job safeguards in 1925-30, the veteran leader said, “Indian Constitution and J&K constitution safeguarded this law for 72 years. So this was not unconstitutional.”
“All presidents and prime ministers accepted this constitutional safeguard which was adopted by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and therefore who are we to say that it is wrong.”
Azad, who donned a traditional Dogra turban to strike a chord with the gathering, said the name of the new party will be easy to utter.
“We have not yet decided the name of the new party and its flag... The people and leaders of both Kashmir and Jammu will be taken on board to finalise the name and the flag,” Azad, a former J&K chief minister, said while seeking support of all sections of society.
“It will be in neither Maulana’s Urdu nor Pandit’s Sanskrit... It will be such a name which can be easy for everyone (to utter),” he said, while referring to first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who at the time of Independence had said the language of independent India would be Hindustani.
The Union government, in August 2019, abrogated Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The Centre subsequently bifurcated the erstwhile state into Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Azad, who was the chief-minister for two and a half years in the PDP-Congress alliance government before the former pulled out of the coalition, said his party will focus on return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley, creating job avenues to overcome spiraling unemployment and additional impetus to the tourism sector—the mainstay of the region’s economy.
“There has been a spike in the killings of Pandits in Valley for the past two to three years. They must be stopped and those interested in returning to Valley shall be given a secured atmosphere,” he said. “Their honour, dignity, respect and integrity have to be ensured.”
He also expressed concerns over growing unemployment. “I have a plan for the creation of job opportunities. We have a treasure trove of mountains which could be tapped to generate employment by attracting tourists,” he said. “Bangus valley (in north Kashmir) is equal to a hundred Gulmarg (the famous hill resort). I, as chief minister, started road construction work to link the valley but unfortunately the road is still incomplete.”
Also read: 'Doesn't change one's DNA': Ghulam Nabi Azad's swipe at Congress ahead of rally today
He added that Tosamaidan in central Kashmir and waterfalls in south Kashmir’s Anantnag, Kathua, Udhampur and Gool-Gulabgarh in Jammu region have the potential to attract lakhs of tourists.
The former CM also talked about the miserable plight of daily wagers.
“I don’t know how they feed their children and what they eat themselves. They have the first right to dignified employment.”
Azad ended his five-decade-long association with the Congress on August 26, after which more than 100 Congress leaders from the Union territory have quit the party with many claiming support to the veteran leader. He also lashed out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for “demolishing” the party’s entire consultative mechanism.
