Srinagar Nov 3: Welcoming the Pak decision of granting India Most Favoured Nation (MFN), Peoples Democratic party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed said it is a bold decision by a democratic government which could redefine the bilateral relations and regional equations in South Asia, a dream scenario for the people of Jammu and Kashmir who have been the worst victims of Indo-Pak hostility.
Describing the decision of Pakistan government to grant Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India as a potential watershed, Mufti however regretted the lack of progress on Kashmir.
“The decision could prove a watershed in the history between two neighbours but the government of India has to ensure that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir matches the improving Indo-Pak diplomatic scenario, to make the new initiative credible and sustainable. Both India and Pakistan should seize the moment and turn it into a stepping stone to make substantial progress on Kashmir,” he said in a statement issued here.
He said his party’s Self Rule proposition being anchored in Indo Pak amity could become a reality with progress on trade front and take the state out of the siege that had severely restricted our economic, political and social growth ever since partition.
Mufti said it was regrettable that no follow up action was taken on the decisions taken at the last foreign minister’s meeting about J&K specific trade and travel issues. Neither has any progress been made on trade front nor have the hassles on travel been eased as had been announced, Mufti said reminding the government of India about the decision to allow more people to travel across the LOC apart from the divided families. Similarly, he said no banking or communication facilities have been provided to back up trade between two sides nor had routes like Kargil-Skardu been opened as promised.
Commenting on the internal situation in the state, where people are being pushed back into alienation and anger as a result of mounting mistrust and governance deficit, Mufti said this could cast its shadow on any progress on the external front. He said an insensitive, arrogant and most corrupt administration had been foisted on the state that had frittered away all gains of the past in just three years of its misrule could as well undermine the larger effort.
“Unless this situation changes and the people of J&K are given a sense of participation in the new initiative not much could be achieved by way of a resolution of the problem that has bedevilled the Indo Pak history for six decades” he said.
Mufti said the uneasy calm clamped on the state could derail even the most sincere and well meaning effort at achieving a lasting peace. “Nowhere in the country could school going teenage kids be paraded in handcuffs just to create a sense of fear that is sustaining the present calm” he said referring to recent reports on the issue. This was happening at a time when the government was patting its own back on ‘achieving a peaceful summer’ as if it was a new invention. Mufti said the pictures of the kids in chains mocked at even the cosmetic changes in the PSA that were now being parroted as a great relief, even though all other ‘promises’ had proved false.
Mufti said while the state government always lacked legitimacy in view of the ‘tactical rigging’ in last elections, the NC had now lost claim even to being a political organization in view of recent exposure of its internal set up based on money. “Both the government and the party are thriving on lies, corruption and dubious patronage which has brought the growth and development of the state to a standstill shaking further the faith of people in democratic system”, he said.
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