Saying that peace is imperative for dialogue and development, Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti today said Jammu & Kashmir can show the way in de-escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan as developments in Jammu & Kashmir have an impact on the relations between the two neighbouring countries.Addressing a gathering here after inaugurating a nursing college, the Chief Minister said people of Jammu & Kashmir have important role in minimising hostilities between the two neighbouring countries and appealed people to create a congenial atmosphere for dialogue by ensuring peace and tranquillity in the State.Referring to the developments of past five months in the State, Mehbooba Mufti said the people of the State suffered hugely, including the people living along the borders and the Line of Control. She said the events have proven the futility of using violence to get heard and additionally the developmental activities slated for the season in Kashmir could not be taken up. She said holistic development of the State and carrying forward the dialogue process, are already included in the priorities of her Government.
On the activities of J&K Muslim Waqf Board, the Chief Minister said she was happy to see the Board branching off its resources to develop technical resource base and expand educational network in the State. She asked for active preservation of assets of the Waqf Board and hoped the endowments are put to public welfare use particularly in sectors like healthcare, technical upgradation of youth and educational outreach. She appealed people to come forward and help the Waqf Board in retrieving and preserving the properties of Waqf Board.Terming education as an important factor to bring about ocio-economic change in a person or society, the Chief Minister regretted that much of the time of students in Kashmir was lost this year due to unfortunate circumstances. She said while any other material loss could be made up, the time lost by our students cannot be brought back.Minister for Agriculture, Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura on the occasion said the present Government in a very short span took many decisions and thanked the Chief Minister for taking interest in the development of the area.Vice Chairman, J&K Muslim Waqf Board, Peer Mohammad Hussain also addressed the gathering.
Later, the Chief Minister also inaugurated another Nursing College at Awantipora in district Budgam.Vice Chairman, J&K Muslim Waqf Board, Peer Mohammad Hussain Minister of State for Forests & Fisheries, Mir Zahoor Ahmad, Minister of State for Hajj & Auqaf, Syed Farooq Ahmad Andrabi, Vice Chancellor, IUST, Prof Mushtaq Siddiqui besides senior officers of divisional administration were also present on the occasion.Set up in a collaborative mode between J&K Waqf Board and Islamic University of Science & Technology, Awantipora, each college would have an intake capacity of 40 and regular class work would commence from the next week.The nursing college at Chrar-e-Sharief would have an affiliated diagnostic centre and a mental health centre for the benefit of local people.