Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference General Secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar on Tuesday said that the saga of misgovernance in J&K has pushed the region’s development prospects to the backburner thereby aggravating people’s problems.
Sagar, according to the NC spokesperson, said this while addressing party functionaries and workers here at the party headquarters Nawa-e-Subha, Srinagar. Additional General Secretary Dr Sheikh Mustafa Kamaal also addressed the functionaries. Among others, Central Secretary Irfan Shah, State Spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar, Provincial Secretary Showkat Ahmed Mir, District President Srinagar Peer Afaq Ahmed, provincial vice president Syed Tauqeer, Kafil ur Rehman, Minority wing organizer JS Azad, Qaisar Jalali, Dr Syed and District President YNC Bilal Ahmed Ganaie were also present on the occasion.
Lamenting the government on its hollow rhetoric Sagar said, “Situation on ground belies the claims of government. The irony is New Delhi has turned a blind eye to the woes of our people who continue to suffer from rising unemployment, deepening alienation, and development deficit. Far from conserving the gains of previous democratically elected governments in J&K, the incumbent administration continues to undone everything. The situation is progressively getting worse on every front ranging from security to development. But New Delhi, it seems, is caught up with rhetoric over substance.”
In his address, Dr Kamal said that the predicaments suffered by J&K’s unemployed youth had taken an alarming turn. “Restoring confidence among our youth is a monumental task. There is no alternative to undertaking this monumental task other than making a sincere outreach to our youth by giving them a sense of ownership. This is missing from the incumbent government’s to-do-list. The absence of any outreach from New Delhi to our youth, and current paralysis in governance are evidenced by the figures and data of Government’s own agencies,” he said.
The rampant disillusionment among JK youth, Dr Kamal said, draws on many things which includes depleting job avenues, widespread unemployment, looming insecurity, and wanton discrimination. “Our youth, like their counterparts elsewhere in the world, are bright. The only thing that sets them apart from their counterparts in the rest of the country and the world is the absence of safer spaces to pursue their vocation. The fate of our promising youth continues to hang in balance, with everyday top-down government notifications and diktats pushing them towards a tipping point,” he said.
