While returning to “healing touch” slogan, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in her Republic Day message on Thursday described withdrawal of the FIRs against 9700 youths as major humanitarian gesture and said she would continue with her healing touch as she sanctioned cash relief to the pellet victims who lost their vision during the unrest of 2016.
The Chief Minister said soon after her taking over, she had promised a review of the cases registered against youth from 2008. “As the things cooled, I started the process and ordered the withdrawal of cases registered from 2008 to 2014 against 4327 youth”, she said adding subsequently she ordered withdrawal of cases registered from 2015 to 2017 against 4740 totalling to the withdrawal of cases against more than 9700 youth so far. She said this would have more positive results so that more such cases are put to review bringing more relief to youth and the society.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Mehbooba Mufti first time came to power in 2002 on the slogan of the healing touch policy. The healing touch policy was coined by former Chief Minister and Mehbooba’s father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 2000 while taking on the then NC government led by Dr Farooq Abdullah. According to the policy, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had promised that he would disband Special Operation Group (SOG) which was infamous for human rights abuses. When in power from 2002 to 2008 in coalition with Congress, the then government merged the SOG with the police. In the following years, the PDP got a huge benefit from the healing touch slogan electorally as the party got 21 seats in the Assembly in 2008 and 28 in 2014.
The J&K CM has repeated it today again after dumping the slogan altogether after the PDP formed a coalition government with the BJP in 2015 and killing of nearly100 civilian protesters and injuries of thousands of others in pellet and bullet firing of security forces in 2016.
Mehbooba described dialogue as the only means to sort out issues and end the culture of violence. She hoped that people from all shades of opinion in Jammu & Kashmir would join the dialogue process initiated in the State.
The Chief Minister said dialogue is the only way by which the culture of violence in the State could be ended. She said she has been pleading for initiation of dialogue in the State and expressed happiness that Centre, agreeing to her suggestion, appointed Dineshwar Sharma as the interlocutor for the State. She, however, maintained that the appointment of Sharma as the interlocutor is a major development to ensure durable peace in the State rather than a temporary measure to calm down tempers as happened in the past.
Expressing concern on the obtaining situation along LoC, the Chief Minister hoped Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, using his stature and wisdom, would pace up his efforts in this regard so that the State becomes a bridge of peace between the two countries, ending the bitter phase of acrimony between them.
Mehbooba said fascination for violence is declining among youth. She added parents, friends and even social media are playing their role in dissuading them from slipping into a path where death and destruction are the only end results. She said though all over the world the ill effects of violence are fairly pronounced now, the people of Jammu & Kashmir have been the immediate witnesses and victims of violence.
Terming peace imperative for executing developmental and welfare initiatives of her Government, Mehbooba Mufti sought support from people in this regard. “If peace prevails, developmental and welfare measures can take off, tourists can come, investment can happen and also new political initiatives can materialize”, she said in her message.
Mehbooba described Prime Minister’s Development Package as a major intervention to change the developmental and infrastructural profile of the State. She said under the said package a whopping Rs. 42000 crore would be spent on development and upgradation of highways, construction of tunnels between the regions and further improving the inter-regional connectivity in the State.
“It is a challenge, (given the topography) but we are doing it wholeheartedly”, she said. Her Government has approved Rs. 4000 crore worth two ring road projects to address the traffic congestion in Srinagar and Jammu cities and preliminary work on these projects has already started, she added.