Invoking the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s “vision and commitment” to address the impending issues of governance, economic stability and political resolution of Jammu and Kashmir, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader and Education Minister, Naeem Akhtar Saturday said the recent “unfortunate” events in the region have reinvigorated the debate over the ideas put forth by the late leader.“Mufti Saheb always believed that for permanent and lasting peace to be established in the South Asian region reconciliation and dialogue is imperative. The unfolding of recent events on borders or within the Valley has once again demonstrated that any sort of violence and escalation is counterproductive and dangerous,” he said while addressing a workers convention in Ganderbal, a PDP statement said.Appealing for broader consensus and shunning of rhetoric, Akhtar said the roadmap for peace has already been laid out and envisaged by the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and hoped that voices of reason and sanity are heard so as to prevent further loss of human lives and economic destabilisation.
He said during the last fourth months, the people of Kashmir have suffered immensely as a consequence of plots of nefarious elements.“And now it is high time to introspect and analyse that how violence has and will serve the purpose of resolution and addressing the day-to-day issues of the people.”Akhtar said the PDP has from the very onset stood against any sort and form of violence and this is the fundamental objective of the idea propagated by Mufti Saheb.“Nothing can be achieved by working against the cause of peace as has been established by the past series of events,” he added.He said while the state of Jammu and Kashmir is faced with many challenges the government headed by Ms Mehbooba Mufti is working on series of reformative measures to empower the people of the state, and assured that the agenda of development and good governance will be implemented as soon as the situation gets normalised completely.Lauding the efforts of the party workers for braving all odds and staying firmly with the idea and principles of the PDP, he said that our collective efforts have succeeded in stabilising the situation, and there is a lot that needs to be done to restore the dignity and livelihood of the common man. (CNS)