Srinagar, July 07: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference senior leader and Member of Parliament from Anantnag Hasnain Masoodi on Sunday decried the highway ban, saying the diktat has put a whole lot of population to undue duress.
While interacting with workers and party functionaries Masoodi said, “It is a dictatorial order. The diktat will hamper the economic activity of traders. The highway is no less than an artery, it is our life line. It is not just the economic activity that will suffer with the ban but patients too. How can they reach hospitals? How can students and working class move to and fro?”
He further added, “This is an unintelligent step. Orders like these will push the already aggravated people to wall. Issuing such orders does not augur well for a democratic setup. We condemn it unequivocally and seek its immediate revocation.”
Meanwhile, Member of Parliament from Baramulla Mohammad Akbar Lone while commenting on the highway ban said, “The move will inadvertently hit the movement of civilian traffic on the Jammu –Srinagar highway. The sole national highway connecting Srinagar with the rest of country already suffers from intermittent blockages due to the vagaries of weather. The dictat of putting restrictions on the vehicular movement if persists will put the public to undue duress. The step is bound to hamper the easy movement of tourist inflow to Kashmir. Moreover the dictate will affect the traders by spoiling Kashmir bound perishable items and vice versa.”
While calling for an early revocation of the reckless diktat Lone said, “The frequent restrictions on the sole national highway connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country on one pretext or the other causes unimaginable loses to the business community apart from severe inconvenience to the general public including patients and students.”
“Nowhere in the world are the people subjected to such bizarre dictates and deplorable treatment by the governments that claim to work for the betterment of common citizenry,” he said adding, “Restrictions like these on a route as is already troubled with blockages tantamount to strangulation of the economic activity in the valley. Such moves are uncalled for and reflective of the aversion that the present administration has for the humane values. I urge the administration to revoke the dictate of barring the civilian vehicles from plying on the highway.”
