National Panthers Party (NPP) chief Bhim Singh on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give a package for Hindu refugees coming from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan. However, he steered clear of long pending dispute regarding Jammu and Kashmir.
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Sayeed’s Finance Minister Haseeb A Drabu said people of the state were expecting the Prime Minister to take tangible confidence building measures aimed at addressing the political and economic challenges confronting Jammu and Kashmir.
An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard during restrictions in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, November 6, 2015.
Modi’s visit to Srinagar comes a little more than a year after a flood in Kashmir that killed hundreds of people and left thousands homeless.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the Jammu and Kashmir government will have to provide accounts of each and every penny spend on the Rs 80,000 crore package announced by him so that the package would not be an end but a beginning in the development of the state.
Earlier in the day, Modi promised a $12 billion federal aid package to boost economic growth in the violence-wracked Himalayan region.
“I don’t need advice or analysis from anyone in this world on Kashmir”.
Speculations are also rife within the PDP, the BJP’s alliance partner in J&K, that Modi might also extend an invitation of talks to separatists leaders.
Top Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani, who tried to lead a protest march against Modi’s rally in Srinagar, said economic packages have not resolved the dispute over Kashmir in the past.
Modi said that the government will start skill development opportunities which will increase employment opportunities.
He said he would avoid a comment on the curbs put on Kashmiri separatist leaders on the eve of Modi’s visit.
A number of rebel groups have operated in the region since an insurgency erupted in 1989.
Heavy security was ordered to prevent protests against his visit from those who favor independence or a merger of the far-northern Indian state with Pakistan. Their deep opposition to Indian rule is often expressed through street demonstrations since Indian troops largely suppressed the armed uprising.
All shops, public transport, other businesses and educational institutions remained closed in Srinagar city.
Separatists had called for a parallel rally on Saturday in Srinagar barely half a km away from the venue of Modi’s public rally.
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Hours before Modi’s rally, in footage screened on national television, police detained an independent parliamentarian, Engineer Rashid, for protesting with black flags.
