Political parties misled people in Kashmir for decades, says youth Kashmiri activist

A youth activist from Langate area of Kupwara has slammed the duopoly of political parties in Jammu and Kashmir.

Working in the social sector for over 14 years, Mir Junaid believes that Jammu and Kashmir will flourish after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35(A) as political interference will be minimal and chances are high for social and economic development.

"We can transform Jammu and Kashmir into world-class socio-economic-political movement. I am moving ahead with all three spheres. I am working in social, economic sectors and also a political movement will emerge, where the people will choose their own candidate. Till now, the candidates were forced on us. People who were unaware of villages of his constituency, they were given candidature," Junaid said

Previous governments, he said, have failed in performing their duties and could not provide even the fundamentals to the common citizen.

"PDP (Peoples Democratic Party), the Congress and National Conference (NC) are responsible for the current situation and they were again trying to befool us in the name of 370 and 35A. Nobody has questions but they had already weakened it. 45 amendments, GST, Land Grant bills; what was that? Where were they then? Now they are shedding crocodile tears", he said.

Junaid added, "If they are so much sincere about the Kashmiri cause then why don't the three Members of Parliament from National Conference and two Members of Parliament from PDP resign? We should watch out for the tricks being employed by these parties to mislead us."

He is glad that more power has been given to Panchayats and it will carry out development in the Union Territory.

"I decided that we would participate in the elections. 2,774 candidates participated in the Panchayat elections. 2,368 candidates won the elections. Similarly in the Municipal Corporation elections, we fielded 245 candidates in 26 town committees; 136 of them won. 116 out of 138 candidates also won in the Block Development Council elections." said Mir.

The youth activist who is working closely with people in North and South Kashmir said not much development work was done by the previous government in Jammu and Kashmir.

"If I make someone responsible, it was the previous governments. They were allotted Rs 80,000 crore to spend on developmental projects. They have only utilized 37 per cent of the sanctioned amount. If it was spent properly, we would not be facing these troubles", Mir said.

After the scrapping of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, the Kashmiri youth are energized to bring social and economic progress.

"I had a passion for activism since childhood. I have always monitored things, especially the political situation, and kept struggling with the situation. It took me many years to learn and understand. For few years, I was a mute spectator. Some inner self always wanted to do something," he said.

"The only thing that stopped me was my fear inside, the fear psychosis. If I will speak about people, if I will raise their queries, if I stand by their rights, I will be killed, because it has been the legacy of this place. Whenever, whoever tried to speak his heart out, we have a history of these killings. They always tried to silent with the barrel of a gun", said Mir, who is dedicated to working for the upliftment of the people of Kashmir valley.

( With inputs from ANI )