Unification of erstwhile JK must for peace: PDP

Srinagar July 18: Peoples Democratic Party leaders have said that unification of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir on economic, cultural, social and environmental front, as envisaged in Self Rule formula, is the immediate need of the hour for bringing lasting peace and tranquility to this region.
Speaking at a district level convention, organised in order to create awareness about the Self Rule formula envisaged by the party, at Budgam today, party leaders said resolution of Kashmir dispute lies in the unification of both the parts of Jammu and Kashmir divided by the Line of Control, which will be possible only when there would be no borders between people of two parts of Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir, they said, had deep cultural and business relations with the areas now under Pakistan and even beyond, across South Asia, and by re-opening all such avenues the state will not only progress on the economic front but it will also help in bridging gap between countries of South Asia.
The self rule aimed at creating Jammu and Kashmir as a bridge between India and Pakistan and both the countries would offer tariff reductions and develop this belt as Regional Free Trade Area, they said adding, development of this area as free trade zone would attract maximum foreign direct investment.
The problem of Jammu and Kashmir, they said, cannot be resolved on the basis of exclusively intra-state level initiatives, which requires a combination of intra-state measures with inter-state and supra-state measures. This approach, which is underlying the concept of self-rule, is a practical way that would eliminate the sources of ethno-territorial conflicts, entrenched in the traditional notions of sovereignty, self-determination, national and ethnic borders”, they stated.
Elaborating, the speakers said that the road map provide provision of a regional senate. Members of the Regional Council will be from Jammu and Kashmir as well as from Pakistan Administered Kashmir. This will serve as a major cross-border institution, which will ensure long-term coordination of matters and interest relating to the state, they said.
Assuring the people of full filling their regional and sub-regional aspirations, they said “promotion of genuine sub-regional political and economic empowerment is certainly one of the crucial components of self rule”. They further said that under the self-rule institutional mechanisms are provided to fulfill regional and sub-regional aspirations. “Regional and sub-regional aspirations would be addressed by creating three tier legislative system”, the speakers said assuring that powers to the subordinate legislature will be delegated after through discussion with the civil society.
Terming self-rule proposal as realistic and practical solution to address both external and internal dimensions of Kashmir problem, the PDP leaders said that in the given situation this was the best possible solution which is formulated by accommodating aspirations and wishes of all stake holders.
Expressing the need to empower the elected government in the state, the self-rule document, they said, was firm on making Article 356 (imposition of President’s Rule) non-applicable to Jammu and Kashmir. “Article 356 which undermines the will and determination of the people to have a legislature and government of their own has to be made non applicable to J&K”, they said, and quoted recommendations of some experts who have suggested that article 249 has been weakening the federal character of India.
Advocating for introducing dual currency to facilitate trade across both sides of Jammu and Kashmir, they said that instead of looking for a monetary union, a new system of “dual currency” will be created where Indian and Pakistani rupees are both made legitimate legal tenders in the geographical areas of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Our vision is to move towards an economic union which will maintain free trade in goods and service , set common external tariffs, allow free mobility of capital and labour and will also relegate some fiscal responsibilities to a supra-national agency”, the leaders said.
They said that the economic distress faced by the people of the state cannot be stemmed unless the resources of the state are fully restored. They said the state was losing an estimated revenue of Rs 6000 crores annually as a result of the unfair exploitation of our water resources which is much more than we would need to take care of our development needs, and added that no one here would remain unemployed if we had the freedom and facilitation to harness our resources.
The speakers included general secretary, Muhammad Dillawar Mir, Aga Sayeed Ruhulla, MLA Dr Muhammad Shafi, Abdul Rashid Qadri and district president Saif-ud-Din.