Create Conditions for resolving Kashmir issue: Gulchain

On the outset Th. Gulchain Singh Charak appreciated the Chief Minister for resting her full faith in the nation and the Prime Minister of India who has a massive national mandate behind him and was surely capable of resolving the long pending chronic Kashmir problem ailing the state for seventy years.

However, he felt that the Prime Minister cannot handle the important burning State level issues unless the State Government creates conducive conditions by establishing corruption free, neat and clean and efficient government, free from prejudices, bias and nepotism. The government has to act like a doctor to apply medical/surgical treatment on the infected part of the body and save other parts from getting infected. This can be achieved only by taking all well meaning people of the civil society from all the three regions of the State on board.

Presently a small spark can cause explosions of restlessness, disturbances, agitations and even terror strikes. He reminded the Chief Minister as to how her own constituency was slipping out of her hands. Militants openly offering gun salute to their killed colleagues is alarming, but how has it come about. Out of power politicians of Kashmir Valley along with separatists have been attending their burials in past and thus making them “martyrs”. That is what has brought the situation to where it is now. Even State policemen have been advised not to visit their own homes in Kashmir under terrorist threats.

The shallow lip service and childlike talks cannot resolve the serious calamity being faced by the people held as hostages between inaction, governments’ insensitivity and apathy on one hand while Pakistan along with fundamentalists and enemy agents are exploiting the situation on the other. The ‘explosive’ needs defusing and immediate neutralizing to save the state from turning into a Syria/ Libya kind of situation that is building up rapidly.

There is great dissatisfaction in Jammu and ladakh regions. People are sitting on Dharnas for months together without even being heard. KPs are in miserable plight with no ray of hope. The West Pakistan refugees and the PoJK migrants have not got their due. The PSC selections and recruitments reflect blatant bias against Jammu and Ladakh.

Th. Gulchain Singh Charak amplified that after repeated communications, letters and personal contact failed to get an audience with the ‘busy Chief minister’ of J&K, he was forced to rake up the three burning issues with the CM during her public meeting on May 6th.

He very strongly projected that the State civil secretariat that remained non-functional last year at Srinagar is likely to have the same fate this year. Besides that, there are no arrangements, safety or administrative set up for the needy people from Jammu province to go to Srinagar for their day to day needs. He urged the Chief Minister to let both winter and summer secretariats function simultaneously and do away with this outdated practice started in the year 1872. The same has been endorsed by Dr Karan Singh when he visited DSS and by the former CM Shri Omar Abdullah during his tenure and by the present Speaker Shri Kavinder Gupta. The exercise of shifting Secretariat is expensive, inconvenient and out dated in the present times of IT communication net works. Moreover the Jammu based secretariat staff remained locked and are forced to live under constant insecurity and threat during non-functioning of the secretariat due to unrest in Kashmir.

Th. Gulchain Singh also projected that the successive State governments are deliberately soft peddling over renovation of the Mubarak Mandi heritage complex with evil motives which is clear by the surrender of Crores of Rupees received from the Center. Reacting to some allegations, he said that it were a pigment of evil imagination by sick minds and challenged to face any investigation or enquiry not only for Heritage Society but also for his full tenure as a Cabinet Minister in the State. He clarified that he resigned from the Mubarak Mandi Jammu Heritage Society, in disgust, since it was not functioning under the chairmanship of the then Chief minister and even the planned visit by the Rashtrapati was stalled.

He further said that it is agonizing that a century old records contained in Eight Lakh files are being shifted to the Kala Kendra building where the conditions are unsafe and is a conspiracy to ruin that treasure of past heritage. He exhorted the Chief Minister and the State Government to have an open debate and resolve many such burning issues by dialogue with the Civil Society of Jammu province to save avoidable path of agitations. He appealed to all the nationalist minded people of the State to get together and put up a united nationalist front.

The situation is grave and very sensitive demanding very matured handling. Only hollow slogans and false assurances will not help. Harping on own glory and that of ancestors does not satisfy people who want action. He further said that those working on an agenda against Jammu tried to pull the rug from under his feet as he was raising issues primarily emanating from discrimination against Jammu.

Now to save the situation the centre has no option but to impose Governor rule and take stern measures to control the situation in Kashmir by clearing the ‘infected’ areas and clear them from the evil clutches of the anti-national, radicalized, fundamentalists working on the ISIS and ISI agenda being aired by separatists and other local sympathizers joining the chorus with them.

So far as his association with congress is concerned, he explained as to how he parted with Congress party while some section of printed media has referred to him as a ‘Congress Leader’. The former Minister and erstwhile Congress leader clarified that he resigned from the Congress Party on some ideological differences and has not been part of that party, since then. He produced the documentary evidence to the effect.

The press conference was also attended by Prof. Neel Kanth Sharma, Sh. P.S Gupta, Sh. G.A Khawaja, Col Dr Virendra Sahi-Vrc, Sh. Amanat Ali Shah & Sh. Janak Khajuria.