Expressing dismay over, what he called, the Union’s “brazenly apathetic” attitude towards the flood-affected in Kashmir, senior PDP leader and Member Parliament, Tariq Hameed Karra Wednesday said that the “so-called” flood-relief package announced by the Government of India “amounts to rubbing salt into the wound of Kashmiris”.He said by playing this cruel joke, the Government of India (GoI) has brought to fore its “inherent bias towards” Kashmiris, which has over the years aggravated the “trust-deficit and alienation” in the Valley, a statement issued by Karra said this afternoon.Karra said the much-hyped package announced by the Union is not only “grossly inadequate” but also speaks of the perceptible “bias” in Government of India’s attitude towards Kashmir.
“Ironically, against the projected demand of Rs 44000 Crore for relief and rehabilitation of the flood-affected infrastructure, the GoI has after a delay of 10 months announced a paltry Rs 2400 Crore,” he said and added that the attitude of the Union Government seems to be clearly “discriminatory” given the extent of financial assistance provided in similar tragic situations in Uttrakhand and even within J&K at Leh.“If Government of India can rush with assistance to Nepal during the quake, and genuinely so, and if it can do away with all the formalities to reach out to the flood-affected in Uttrakhand, why resort to double-standards when it has to reach out to the people of J&K in similar tragic situations,” he wondered.
Karra said if the Government of India continues with “same prejudiced approach towards Kashmir”, PDP should “rethink on its relation” with the BJP as continuation in the coalition seems to be doing “more damage to both Kashmiris and the party”.He said the “Agenda of Alliance” has been just confined to paper and right from the day one there has been “no consonance” between the functioning of the PDP-BJP Coalition Government with the said Agenda.“Be it return of power projects from NHPC, allocation of resources or distribution of institutions between the regions, there are so many contradictions within the coalition,” he said.
Karra also expressed grave concern over the reported regional discrimination in allocation of the district plans, especially with respect to Srinagar. He said instead of increasing the annual plan allocation for Srinagar in the wake of the massive destruction of the public infrastructure due to devastating floods of September 2014, the State Government has accorded preferential treatment to other districts including Samba and Reasi, not to talk of Jammu, the statement said.He said the discriminatory attitude towards Kashmir adopted by the previous NC-Congress regime and now the present PDP-BJP coalition has resulted in not only systemic disempowerment of Kashmiris at every level, but has also worsened the infrastructure deficit in the Valley.
He said due to development and infrastructure deficit, Srinagar city has turned into a virtual slum with dilapidated roads, defunct drainage system and frustrating traffic jams having made the life miserable for its inhabitants. He said the State Government should revisit all the district plans and make equitable distribution of resources to ensure parity in development and infrastructure in tune with the needs of the particular region or the district.He also expressed concern over the grave security scenario in Sopore and urged the State Government to unmask the killers of the innocent people there. (CNS)