STATE TIMES NEWS
CHENANI: Castigating PDP-BJP coalition for weakening traditional amity and regional harmony in a sensitive state like Jammu and Kashmir, Provincial President National Conference Devender Singh Rana on Tuesday accused the two parties of playing to galleries to conceal their inherent contradictions.
“PDP and BJP are creating hype and plunging the State into uncalled for controversies over issues which are no way connected either with governance or the much touted development”, Rana said while addressing a day long National Conference convention at Chenani.
He said that ideologically poles apart, the PDP and BJP were eroding the secular foundations of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh apart from putting the development into back-burner. The gains of the past six years are being negated by the visionless dispensation, he maintained.
Rana cautioned against divisive tendencies of elements inimical to secular ethos and said National Conference will not allow Jammu and Kashmir to be converted into the battlefield of polarised ideologies. “PDP and BJP did their worst in 2008 to polarise the situation and bring the regions of Kashmir and Jammu eyeball to eyeball situation, but sagacious people of the State read between the lines and frustrated their designs of trifurcating Jammu and Kashmir”, he said, adding that the same spirit was predominant even now when the two parties despite being partners in the government were working for cross purposes.
The convention was addressed by senior leaders including State Vice Presidents Syed Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari, Ex-MP. Sheikh Abdul Rehman, Babu Rampal, Th Kashmir Singh, Brij Mohan Sharma, Sheikh Bashir Ahmad, Surinder Singh Bunty and Rohit Bali.
Recalling State’s glorious traditions of amity, peaceful co-existence and tolerance, Syed Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari said that Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah strived all his life to nurture this spirit of unity in diversity. This is the legacy which will be carried forward with same vigour and those coming in its way will find their political space shrinking, he maintained and urged the people to further strengthen the party, which he described as a popular public movement, he added.
Speaking on the occasion senior party leader and ex- MP Sheikh Abdul Rehman said that a huge responsibility is upon the National Conference to safeguard public interest and to fight for just cause of the people who have been left in lurch by the Coalition Government. He hoped that the party cadre will rise to the occasion to meet the challenge posed by the Coalition Government.
State Vice President Th Kashmira Singh asked the party cadre to rejuvenate National Conference at the grass roots level and create awareness among people against anti-people and anti youth policies of the present dispensation. He described the performance of the government during first three months as poor and dismal.
Former Minister, Babu Rampal said the Coalition Government has lost the direction to serve the State and solve the problems of people. “The overall disenchantment among the people of the three regions is a telling story about governmental performance”, he maintained.
Former Legislator Brij Mohan Sharma and Provincial Secretary Sheikh Bashir Ahmad also addressed the convention and hoped that the party will get fully galvanised at all the levels and work for the welfare of the people of the State.
State Youth National Conference President Surinder Singh Bunty and Vice President Rohit Bali urged the youth to show same zeal and determination in fighting the anti-people policies of the government which they demonstrated while agitating against the New Recruitment Policy. “The stiff resistance by the Youth Wing of National Conference made the Coalition Government shelve the anti-youth policy”, they added.
Those who were present on the occasion included Vijay Khajuria, Sunil Verma, Lal Chand Musafir, Naresh Anthal, Sansar Chand, Rajinder Dogra, Ramparshotam Sharma, Smt. Pushpa Dogra, Gh Rasool, Ramesh Chander, Charan Dass, Jagdish Gupta, Shamas Din, Dina Nath, Haji Yaqoob and others.
