Amid debate over relocating employees of the minority community serving in Kashmir Valley to safer places, former Chief Minister and Democratic Azad Party (DAP) chief Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday said Kashmiri Pandit employees should be temporarily shifted to Jammu till the situation improves in Kashmir.
"Life is a priority and so I think that Kashmiri Pandit employees be transferred to safer places in Jammu. When the situation improves, they should be brought back," Azad told reporters in Srinagar.
He said life is far more important than employment and promised to take such a step if his party comes to power in the Union Territory.
Azad argued that after some incidents of selective killings of employees there is a feeling of insecurity and fear among Kashmiri Pandit employees working in different parts of Kashmir Valley. "For the time being Kashmiri Pandit employees should be temporarily shifted to Jammu", Azad demanded.
Notably, Kashmiri Pandit employees recruited under the Prime Minister's special rehabilitation package and posted in different parts of the Kashmir valley are staging a protest demanding adjustment in Jammu.
I will ensure the safety of every citizen of J&K
Azad said that he will ensure that every person living in Jammu and Kashmir will feel safe if his party is elected to power after the elections. Azad showed concerns over the growing insecurity among the locals of Kashmir in general and minority Kashmir pandits in particular given the recent target killings by terrorists in the last several years, which forced minority people to flee.
Jobs need to be created and infrastructure must be at par with modern standards
"We need an era of development in Jammu and Kashmir that provides equal economic opportunities to all. Jobs need to be created, and infrastructure required to be built at par with modern standards. That is how an all-round development takes place," he told workers of his party.
Azad said that dwelling economic opportunities in Jammu Kashmir have pushed people to the wall. It allows terrorism to flourish.
"If we are in power after elections, I assure you Jammu Kashmir will flourish, a new dawn of peace and development will be set in with every citizen part of it," he said.
Stating that no political and economic roadmap was created by the successive regimes in Jammu and Kashmir, he said DAP is offering an alternative political force that will set economy and development as its priority.
