jj correspondent
Srinagar, June 23: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday asked Kashmiri youth to have pens and laptops instead of stones and guns.
He said the future of Kashmiri youths lies beyond guns and stones.
Addressing the gathering after inaugurating several developmental projects Srinagar, Shah said stone pelting, bomb explosions on the behest of neighbouring country and firing incidents used to happen to destroy the economic conditions of the state “…all these things have now been controlled,” he said.
In Srinagar, the Union Home Minister inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 84 development projects of about Rs.586 crore.
Shah said the future of youth does not lie in guns and stones but in the vast Indian and global market that awaits their talent.
“I appeal to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir to join the change. You have a future in joining with the development of Jammu and Kashmir and the country by taking a laptop, not a weapon in hand,” he said.
The Home Minister, who commenced his two-day J&K tour on Friday, said today schools are open, colleges are working, industrial activity takes place and 1.88 Crore tourists visited Kashmir during 2022 which is the highest figure so far since independence.
“I want to ask the people of J&K when was the last time hotels were full of tourists, not for the past two decades. I want to guarantee you that there would be three times more hotel rooms available for the tourists visiting Kashmir valley during the next five years. The tourists would come here and enjoy the heavenly place on the earth with a new transformation visible,” he said.
On the recently held G-20 Meet in Srinagar, the Home Minister said it provided an opportunity to showcase the positive changes occurring in Kashmir over the years to the world.
“Recently the G-20 conference was successfully organised in Srinagar and the message of peaceful Jammu and Kashmir reached across the globe. Tourists from all over the world will visit the region only when the changes taking place in Jammu and Kashmir are communicated properly and for this purpose, G-20 was a huge platform,” he said.
Shah hit out at the previous governments of Abdullahs and Muftis and said the democracy was limited to 80- 85 people.
“Recently Omar Abdullah said that India is a democratic country but it ends when it reaches Jammu and Kashmir. He said it rightly. I would like to say that it used to happen during Abdullah sahib, your father and grandfather and at the Mufti’s time when only 85 people used to rule … ,” Shah said.
He said democracy has now reached Jammu and Kashmir and 35000 people are looking after their villages, tehsils, zilas and deciding their future themselves.
Shah said the time will come when MLAs, MPs and new leaders will emerge from here who will render their contribution in nation building.
“Some people do not like this because they want a rule of family here. Prime Minister has made it possible and ensured that democracy reaches on the ground by making available panchyats to make the roots of democracy strong. The three family rule system has come to an end in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Shah said whoever would be elected and form the government in J&K can’t ignore Panchayat Raj
“Panchayat elections have become the future of the Jammu and Kashmir now,” he said.
Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave AIIMS, IIMs, IITs and IIITs to Jammu and Kashmir.
He said that the government wants to make Dal Lake the most attractive tourist centre of the country, for which a scheme of about Rs. 85 crores has been formulated on a preliminary basis. Children from across the country would like to visit Dal Lake and Tattoo Ground in the coming days.
He said that it will help in exponentially increasing tourism in J&K. Shah said under the Srinagar Smart City Limited, many projects including multi-level parking, smart lighting, integrated command and development of parks have been initiated with an expenditure of Rs. 345 crores. Many new medical colleges, degree colleges and nursing colleges have also been opened. UNI
