3 years of failures, Mehbooba on Omar govt

Peoples Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday accused Omar Abdullah government of failing to convert the unstinted support of the centre and his coalition partners into welfare of the state.

Addressing a workers meet of Srinagar District, she said “with the blood of hundreds of innocents on its hands, Altaf of Bonyar being only the latest, the coalition government’s celebration of three year rule looks obscene”.

Mehbooba said the three years of Omar Abdulllah have been about sheer survival, anarchy, misgovernance and political failures. But, she said the worst impact of his miserable governance has been the orchestrated defamation of the Kashmiri people by Omar Abdullah for all these years.

“In 2009 following the Shopian tragedy, fingers were raised by rulers about the integrity of Kashmiri womenfolk, in 2010 an entire generation was packaged before the world as stone pelters, drug addicts and criminals and 2011 was rounded off by the Chief Minister personally accusing Kashmiris of stealing electricity”.

She said though the people of all regions of the state have suffered under this Government but Kashmir which has been the stronghold of NC for eight decades was never so pointedly painted black by even an alien or autocratic Government as the Omar Abdullah dispensation has done.

While the massive failures of the coalition government tarnished the image of entire political class, Mehbooba said, the corruption in the guts of the National Conference and Abdullah family was exposed with the mysterious death of Haji Yusuf, a close confidante of the rulers. That incident diminished the prestige of chief minister’s institution as never before and involved the highest office directly with corruption and crime at the cost of State’s image, she said.

Mehbooba said the soul of democracy lies in cooperation between the administration, political leadership and the masses. But unfortunately the callous and insensitive approach of the present dispensation has completely cut off the ruling politicians from the people and set the administration in confrontation with the general public. “Never in recent times have the three entities been so alienated from each other”, she said and pointed out that the administration was unable to deliver in absence of political direction. She said the same administration had served the previous coalition Government with distinction and brought about an all-round change in the scenario which had revived people’s hope in the system and they had started to believe that Governments could bring change in the lives of people.

Mehbooba said alienating the youth has been a colossal failure of Omar Abdullah. This important and valuable segment of the society is frustrated and exposed to the cruelest face of a Government. Scores were killed on the streets seeking justice, while thousands have been framed in false cases. She said the announcements of the Govt about providing employment, withdrawal of FIRs or bringing back those who had crossed the LoC have proved completely false.

On the continued ‘sell-out of the State’s resources by NC-led dispensations,’ Mehbooba said water resources were once again bartered away during these three years. This time the Govt gave away three more hydel projects under the guise of a joint venture with the NHPC on highly unequal terms. Though the Chief Minister and some other Ministers continue to raise periodic slogans about the return of power projects from NHPC, Mehbooba said they never explained to the people as to why these were given away at first instance and what concrete steps had been taken for their return to the State, she said.

On the power front, Mehbooba said the complete failure of Omar Abdullah Govt has been the most conspicuous and troublesome for the people. She said the power supply system had been improved to a great extent between 2002 and 2008 but as soon as the present Govt took office they reverted to the old methods of NC when they would keep Kashmir valley completely deprived of electricity. There are scores of demonstrations every day in one part of the valley or another seeking some respectable level of power supply. She said while the NC came to power on the most negative slogan of “Meter todo heater lagaw” in effect it only increased the tariff manifold and decreased the supply of power leading to a chaotic situation in the freezing cold of harsh winter.

Describing the handing over of State’s finances to the Reserve Bank of India and relieving its own J&K Bank of this privilege and duty as a final blow to the financial autonomy of the State, Mehbooba said Omar Abdullah Govt has completed the sell-out of state’s interests for the sake of its own luxuries.

Mehbooba said the present Govt earned the dubious distinction of losing many prestigious centrally sponsored schemes worth thousands of crores of rupees because of its inability to implement them. ERA which was a major contribution of PDP led Govt is almost defunct as the ADB suspended further loaning. She said funds have been stopped under PMGSY and even for PHE schemes by the Govt of India because of the inability of the State Govt to submit utilization certificates. To the contrary the State Govt has been diverting plan funds only to those schemes which are executed by contractors of choice and for which huge kickbacks are paid right up to the top.