BJP-led Centre doesn’t ‘inspire confidence’ among people of J&K: PDP

Srinagar, Mar 5 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir’s core issue is not development but the aspirations of the people, the PDP claimed on Tuesday and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Kashmir Valley this week raises no hopes.

The party also attacked the BJP government at the Centre, saying it does not “inspire confidence” among the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Talking to reporters here, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief spokesperson Suhail Bukhari said that “there is enormous hope whenever a prime minister visits Kashmir” but the upcoming visit does not raise any hope.

“Modi is the PM of the country and he can visit anywhere and anytime… But J-K is different from the rest of the country. The core problem of J-K is not developmental issues, but it is about the aspirations of the people,” Bukhari said ahead Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the Valley on March 7.

He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir have suffered for the last three decades and want the government to heal their wounds.

“BJP’s (former) prime minister AB Vajpayee came here and that was the time when the situation was worse. But people had hopes and he offered a hand of friendship to Pakistan. After that, (former) prime minister Manmohan Singh visited here and there was some movement,” Bukhari said.

“There is enormous hope whenever a prime minister visits Kashmir. But today as a Kashmiri, I regret that after 2019, the attitude of this dispensation towards the people doesn’t raise any hope,” he said.

This dispensation does not “inspire confidence” among the people, Bukhari said, attacking the BJP government at the Centre.

In 2019, the Centre had abrogated Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated it into Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Asked whether the party has made a decision on contesting the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, Bukhari said all political parties should stand united to fight for the rights of the people.