Kashmir must reap the fruits of India's development: Abdullah
Nov 22, 2006 - 12:17:19 AM
, Reviewed by: Priya Saxena
|
|
|
While Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who addressed the gathering, said that quality of people coming to governance was going down in the recent times, environmental activist Medha Patkar argued for a role for the community in the government's policy decisions including the annual budget.
|
By Indo Asian News Service,
[RxPG] New Delhi, Nov 21 (IANS) Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah warned Tuesday that India's economic growth was meaningless unless its benefits percolated down to the remotest areas of his strategic border state.
He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir have been betrayed. 'What do you tell those people who do not get anything for nine months (due to the adverse climate) about India's development, its nuclear power and its most advanced air force?' he asked.
'They will feel it (development) when they benefit from it.'
Addressing the Summit of the Powerless organised by Tehelka newsweekly, Abdullah said Jammu and Kashmir would not be in peace until India and Pakistan improve their relations. 'Until you achieve substantial peace with Pakistan, there will be no peace in Jammu and Kashmir,' he said.
Abdullah, who participated in a discussion on 'the Indian state: protector or alienator?', criticised the Planning Commission alleging that the body would support only those states that support the central government.
'The Planning Commission is the biggest fraud in this nation. Only pro-state governments will benefit and those who are not will not get anything from it,' the National Conference leader said.
Participating in the discussion, senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan called for 're-inventing' the judicial system, which according to him has been unaccountable, with a new vision.
Bhushan alleged that the courts have been issuing orders to evacuate people from slums and villages without any rehabilitation package.
'Street vendors are ordered to move out so that people would shop only in malls. Rickshaw pullers in Chandni Chowk (in Delhi) were ordered to be removed for the CNG buses and courts have issued orders to bulldoze slums. Even Delhi government's pleas to give them more time to prepare a rehabilitation programme was not heard,' he said.
'Unless steps are taken, we will soon have an insurgency in the country when there will be bloodshed. The judiciary can proudly claim a role in speeding it up,' he warned.
While Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who addressed the gathering, said that quality of people coming to governance was going down in the recent times, environmental activist Medha Patkar argued for a role for the community in the government's policy decisions including the annual budget.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley, Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (Liberation) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, and Thermax Ltd director and social worker Anu Aga also participated in the discussion.
|
Subscribe to India Newsletter
|
|
E-mail Address:
|
|
Feedback
|
For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send
any medical news or health news press releases, use
feedback form
|
Top of Page
|
