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since security forces had been
serving in J&K for nine months
helping organise panchayat,
urban local bodies and parlia-
ment elections, it was time for
them to be redeployed. The
PM told us that the security
forces had to be moved by
May 23 itself but that the gov-
ernment had persuaded the
forces to stay back for Amar-
nath Yatra. And that is why
redeployment was taking
place now.
Dr Sahib and Omar Sahib
then urged the PM to go for
elections. Not because the NC
wanted to be in power but we
were worried that some policy
decisions were being taken by
the governor administration
which were not in tune with
imperatives of democracy.
So, we urged the PM to let an
elected government be in place and take • Curbs eased Media reports suggest that is much higher. We don’t have problem
these decisions. These were the exact restrictions have been lifted in 99 per cent with three essentials of life: shelter, food,
words. The PM said government was areas in Jammu and Kashmir and clothes to wear. And there has not
holding the elections in J&K in October been a single farmer suicide in Jammu
itself. He said it was only because of the and Kashmir. There have been thou-
nomads who had to move from Kashmir sands of such suicides in Maharashtra.
Valley to Jammu that elections had been Our constitution was the only one which
deferred. The PM explained that the guaranteed right to a happy childhood.
security forces which had been available And the BJP tells the rest of the country
with the government during the parlia- there was no childcare in J&K. We had
ment polls could not have given due pro- juvenile justice Act in place. We have
tection to the candidates if the Assembly Women’s Development Commission.
elections had been held simultaneously. There’s least gender bias in J&K. We
have 12 percent reservation in favour of
Do you believe that repeal of Article scheduled tribes, 10 percent reservation
370 can be reversed? ‘Then Maharaja of in favour of scheduled castes, and 20 per-
See, our job is to do everything in the cent in case of reserved backward areas
national interest and in the interest of Kashmir Hari Singh and other categories. They say we don’t
Kashmir. We believe the government decided to join India on have Right to Information law. We have
has pushed Kashmir to an unpleasant it. And unlike any other state we have
situation. What they’re trying to do is some conditions and an Accountability Commission in place
to market their decision on the basis of for more than a decade. Other states are
lies. They tell the country J&K is the most those conditions were still fighting for a Lok Pal. They cry for
backward state. And that it lags behind accepted by the other regional imbalance. There’s no regional
development among all the other states. imbalance in J&K. We gave the fiscal and
But the facts are otherwise. They are be- party. And there was political autonomy to Ladakh region. We
lied by the statistics. We are far ahead of an agreement. And the had an autonomous Hill Development
half the other states. Our development Council there. We have a University in
indicators are better. Our per capita ex- terms of accession got Ladakh for less than five lakh people.
penditure on education and healthcare reflected in Article 370’ And our constitution was not that of
is much higher. Our per capita income Muslims. We had Kaushak Bakaula as

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