Srinagar, Nov 25: National Conference on Thursday denounced the claims of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman on “changed ground situation” in Jammu and Kashmir as “bundle of lies to white-wash the devastating impact the decisions of August 05, 2019 have had on the people and economy” here.
According to a party press release, NC Members of Parliament — Muhammad Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi — while contesting the Finance minister’s claims asked her about the yardstick she had employed to gauge the development and growth parameters in Jammu and Kashmir.
They said the finance minister’s claims on Kashmir situation “is a bundle of lies which is belied by the prevailing ground situation”.
“Ministers in the incumbent dispensation at the helm of affairs in New Delhi have been outlandishly lying to white-wash the devastating outcome of its August 05, 2019 unilateral and undemocratic decisions,” Lone and Masoodi said.
Denouncing the “absurd chicanery” of the minister, they said if the situation was that good then why has the footprint of forces increased in Kashmir?
“Why have bunkers, night raids, civilian killings returned to haunt people? How has the unemployment ratio skyrocketed to an all-time high of 21.6 percent, which is thrice the national average? Why are people associated with manufacturing, horticulture, tourism and trade in the throes of a profound crisis? What yardstick has the concerned minister employed to gauge the development in Jammu and Kashmir?” they asked.
“Such claims are akin to rubbing salt into the wounds of the people of J&K, who are being denied democracy and not trusted with a popular government,” they said adding “whose democratic rights have been crippled; whose exclusive rights over the land, jobs and natural resources stand liquidated?”
The NC MPs stated that the decisions of August 05, 2019 “have plunged J&K into a deep chasm of political uncertainty, and insecurity, dissolving the multitude of dividends brought about by previous democratically-elected successive state and central governments in terms of improving security, infusing confidence in youth, generating employment, and perking up development.”
A simple fact-check, the MPs said will reveal how badly Jammu and Kashmir is doing on all developmental indices.
“The major causality of the abrogation of Articles 370, and 35-A has been the freedom of press in Jammu and Kashmir. By denying the press its due freedom, the government is only peddling lies to white-wash the aftermath of the Himalayan blunder it committed on August 05, 2019.
“The new media policy 2020 has taken away the basic principle of a free press and systematically stifled all forms of dissent,” they said.
Cautioning the Central government against misconstruing the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the MPs demanded the rollback of August 05, 2019 decisions.
