Div Com, Kashmir had agreed to allot land for Sainik Colony: APHC

Srinagar: An Executive Council meeting of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) chaired by Hurriyat Chairman, Mirwaiz Dr. Moulvi Muhammad Umar Farooq was held at the APHC headquarters at Rajbagh.

The meeting was attended by Hurriyat Executive Council members, Prof. Abdul Gani Bhat, Moulana Masroor Abbas Ansari, Muhammad Musadiq Adil and Mukhtar Ahmad Waza.

During the meeting, the current political situation and the ongoing resistance movement, political developments at the Indo-Pak Sub continental level and preparations for the Hafta-e-Shahadat programme, starting from May 16, 2016, were discussed.

Terming the statements of the state government regarding the proposal of setting up of a Sainik Colony in Jammu Kashmir as misleading, the meeting described it as a very serious issue having far reaching consequences. “It was stressed that the rulers of Kashmir, for their selfish interests and for safeguarding their power, had from day one indulged in battering away the interests of the Jammu and Kashmir and thus weakening its disputed nature. The setting up of Sainik Colonies was a step in the same direction”, the APHC statement reads.

“During the APHC Executive Council meeting, it was revealed that on April 16, 2015 in a meeting of JKRSB at Raj Bhavan, the secretary RSB during the meeting had informed the board members that Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, had agreed for allotment of 173 kanal of land in the old Air field area for the colony, however, after the number of aspirants had increased to over one thousand including 26 officers, 125 JCOs and 900 other Army men the RSB sought 350 kanals of land from the government in its revised proposal which was now pending before the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, and the State Home Department for the approval”, the statement further says.

The conglomerate meeting stated that RSB’s proposal does not mention anything about the colony being meant only for the state subjects of Jammu and Kashmir.

During the meeting, it was stressed that the statements of the government including the Chief Minister on the subject were not credible and thus could not be believed as the chief minister who brushed the issue aside as mere rumors, actually indulged in trying to cover up the entire matter. It was stated in the meeting that the people of Kashmir were well aware of the habit of double speak of the rulers in such cases who while making deals of the interests of the people would be making false statements to cover their designs.

The meeting of the amalgam stressed that the rulers of Kashmir had been working against the interests of the people of the state since day one for keeping their master in New Delhi in good humour in order to remain in power.

Terming the chief minister’s statement that accession of Jammu Kashmir to India was final as entirely opposite to the historical and ground realities, it was stated that Kashmir was an internationally-accepted dispute and nobody’s personal opinion or agenda could change this stark reality till this dispute was not resolved in accordance with the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

During the meeting, the APHC’s Executive Council blamed the pro-India political parties of Kashmir for working to advance the interests of India and accused them of being responsible for the political and social problems people of Jammu Kashmir.

The meeting said bringing the admission for Medical and Dental Colleges of Jammu Kashmir under the ambit of NEET was not only injustice towards local students but also a ploy to weaken the state’s control over these educational institutions thus affecting the rights of the people of Jammu Kashmir to run their professional education institutions.

The conglomerate’s meeting termed the wresting of control of the state from administrative and educational institutions of Jammu Kashmir as a serious issue and said the powers of the state were being eroded continuously under a well planned strategy with a nefarious design.

Jammu Kashmir was an internationally-accepted dispute and rendering institutions of the state powerless and handing their control over to Government of India was being deliberately done to affect its disputed nature, the conglomerate’s statement reads.

Calling for making the Hafta-e-Shahadat programme which starts on May 16, 2016 to commemorate the anniversaries of Moulvi Muhammad Farooq, Abdul Gani Lone and Martyrs of Hawal as well as the entire ‘martyrs of the movement’, a success, the meeting took stock and finalized the preparations of the programme.