STATE TIMES NEWS POONCH: Article 370 stalled the development process in Jammu and Kashmir and deprived people of their rights in the last over seventy years. This was stated by senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta during two-day Halo Bol Conclave 2021 held at Poonch. Decrying Pt Jawaharlal Nehru for doing blunders in past especially with regard to Kashmir, Kavinder said had Nehru not given J&K in the hands of Sheikh Abdullah things would have been totally different with region leading in the country as far as development and progress are concerned. He said that few dynast families devastated J&K in whatever way they could without paying any heed towards people’s miseries. “Corruption and nepotism used to rule the roost during NC, Congress and PDP’s regimes as these parties seldom care of people and their problems”, he said adding that these dynast politicians abetted corruption and nepotism to the hilt. Kavinder said that terrorism is not the outcome of abrogation of Article 370 but it was this Article of Constitution that brought in terrorism into J&K. He said that BJP will be remembered for its historic step to remove Article 370 in the times to come and people of J&K will remain grateful to the party for accomplishing this near impossible task of freeing up the region from the clutches of this contentious provision of constitution. The senior BJP leader said that IIT, IIM, AIIMS, artificial lake and so many other projects are near completion just because of Modi government’s farsighted policies and people should support the government to ensure that unprecedented development initiatives taken up by the government can be completed in time. He said that Article 370 removal gave justice to West Pakistan refugees, Safaikaramcharis and Gorkhas. He said that under the dynamic leadership of Modiji more than 600 terrorists have been neutralized after August 5, 2019 till date, buildings are being named after martyrs to enthuse patriotism, government is mulling to give political reservation to Paharis after so many years of discrimination by successive governments. Kavinder emphasized that Modi Government is working day and night to provide the rights to each and every community. He mentioned that Amit Shah during his visit to J&K has assured reservation and proper status to the Pahari speaking people. He said that the Home Minister also assured a berth to at least one representative of Pahari speaking people in the ministry. The senior BJP leader said that unprecedented development is the slogan of BJP and soon trains will chug in Rajouri and Poonch districts. He criticized previous regimes for neglecting Poonch and Rajouri districts. He said that people should support Modi government to ensure colossal development and station of aspirations. Jahangir Mir Ex Chairman Legislative Council, Former MLA Surankote Akram and DDC Chairperson Baramulla Safina Beig were also part of this conclave.
