Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Rs.80,000 crore package for Jammu & Kashmir, calling it a gift and just a beginning in terms of assistance for the state. “Delhi's treasury is for you and we will provide you more in the future,'' he said at a public meeting at the Sher-e-Kashmir stadium here.
Modi said the package was besides the Rs.35,000 crore granted for connecting Jammu with Srinagar through a railway link.
Modi vowed to carry forward former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's three point vision Kashmiriyat (coexistence), jamhooriyat (democracy) and insaaniyat (humanity) and underlined that India was incomplete without Kashmiriyat.
He skirted any reference to any political process even as CM Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and his ministers had created an impression that Modi would do a Vajpayee and invite separatists and Pakistan for talks. Instead, Modi said he does not need any analysis or advice on Kashmir and praised Kashmiris for showing faith in democracy by participating in parliamentary and state polls. “Now the chief minister wishes to conduct panchayat polls to give more power to people at the grassroots level,“ he said.
Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had famously extended his hand of friendship to Pakistan when he addressed a meeting at the same venue in Srinagar in 2003.
Helicopters hovered over the cricket stadium while authorities suspended internet services as part of the security measures for the event, which was attended by around 40,000 people. PM Narendra Modi vowed to restore Kashmir's glory and said the state should become a must visit destination for tourists like it was in the past. “I love Kashmir and used to come here and stay here for days,'' he said, stressing production of quality saffron, pashmina and cricket bats.
He said he realised the pain and destruction the state had undergone due to last year's floods. “But the people of the state know ways to come out of this destruction and pain and they really came out of it.“
Modi praised the potential of Kashmiri youth and said they were making their mark in IAS, IPS and other services. He mentioned cricketer Parvez Rasool and wished the state produces more such players to bring laurels for the country . “I wish another international cricket match be played here like the one in 1983,“ Modi said.
He reiterated his slogan of `sab ka saath, sab ka vikas' and spoke about his 17 month rule, saying people were not thinking of India competing with China prior to it. “Now we are ahead of China in many areas,'' said Modi at the rally which was held amid tight security arrangements.
Separatists were put under house arrest after they announced a “million march“ near the public meeting venue. Independent legislator Engineer Rashid was detained after he held a protest march carrying black balloons and flags. Elsewhere in the Valley , a complete shutdown was observed to protest Modi's visit.
Earlier, Sayeed invoked Vajpayee and asked Modi to initiate dialogue with Pakistan. “Vajpayee's peace initiative ensured a decade-long thaw in India-Pakistan relations. Bade bhai ko chote bhai se milna hi hoga,“ Mufti said. Sayeed praised Modi's reference to Kashmiriyat and for following Vajpayee's vision on Kashmir.
Former chief minister Omar Abdullah criticised Modi's speech and said he too had repeated the “mistake of weighing the Kashmir issue in rupees and paisa“. Hitting out at the CM for drumbeating ahead of Modi's visit, he said, “People believed that he would address the political dimension of the Kashmir problem by inviting separatists and well as Pakistan for dialogue. There was nothing like that in Modi's speech.''
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