Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Monday moved two amendments to the motion for vote of thanks to the president of India for his speech delivered to the joint session of parliament.According to a statement issued in the first amendment motion moved by the party president, Mehbooba Mufti and Tariq Hameed Karra, the party proposes the following amendments in the presidential address: “The Government of India will address the Kashmir issue and the issues facing the people in Jammu and Kashmir within the parameters of Insaniyat, Jamhuriyat and Kashmiriryat.” In the second amendment the party seeks to add to the President’s address a commitment for zero tolerance to human right violations.
Commenting on the president’s address and the amendments moved by the party to it, Mehbooba Mufti, in a statement, said while the presidential address had presented an inclusive vision for all sections of the population it was disappointing that the problem of J&K had been excluded from it. She said while it was good that improvement of intra-regional connectivity in the state and return of Kashmiri Pandits to their homes were mentioned in the agenda for the government it was unacceptable that the government had remained silent over the larger issue of J&K, its political resolution and development needs.
Mehbooba said the people of the state had expected the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to follow up on his assurances during the election campaign that Kashmir would be addressed within the parameters of Insaniyat, Jomhuriyat and Kashmiryat.She said given the strong mandate that the BJP and NDA have received in the Lok Sabha polls this was the time to embark on a peace mission in Kashmir and with Pakistan, so that the region could be pulled out of immense problems that the people are facing, because of trouble in and over Kashmir.The PDP president said her party would use the parliamentary forum to stress the inevitability of solving Kashmir and would try to reach out to all sections of public opinion with a message for peace from Kashmir and a strong desire for its resolution.
On the human rights issue, Mehbooba said while the government had declared a zero-tolerance for terrorism, extremism and riots it was also necessary that the government made an unqualified determination to safeguard the lives, property and honor of the people of the state. She said there have been blatant human rights violations of all kinds in J&K at the hands of government forces and the militants.“The people of the state have been crushed between two guns and unless the government makes a bold start on protecting lives and honor from excesses of its forces, the idea of India would continue to suffer crisis of credibility among the people in the state,” said Mehbooba.
She said the trust deficit between residents of J&K and rest of the country has to be bridged by ensuring justice, fair-play and equality before law and unless the people in the state enjoy the pidends of being part of a democratic system the alienation levels would in-turn result in more problems for them in the state.
Mehbooba said there have been numerous cases of victimization of minorities especially the Muslim youth in different states in the context of incidents of terror and violence. She said in many instances the accused had received a relief from courts after suffering interrogation, jails and prosecution for years as had recently happened in the Akshardham attack case in Gujarat, and earlier in Mecca Masjid, Malegaon blasts and many cases involving Kashmiri youth. She said the state institutions need to be made accountable for their actions against citizens so as to remove the sense of insecurity among the minorities.