Jammu Jan 9: The Peoples Democratic Party has decided to hold peaceful protests at district headquarters across Jammu and Kashmir on January 19 to highlight the problems faced by people due to the “failure” of the coalition government.
 The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of its senior leaders, legislators and district presidents here today. The meeting was chaired by the PDP patron, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed.
 “In today’s meeting it was decided to hold peaceful protests on January 19 at all district headquarters to highlight problems faced by the common masses and to awake this regime from deep slumber,” a PDP spokesman said in a statement.
 The meeting, he said, was held in continuation to a similar meeting in Srinagar on Saturday in which the party president Mehbooba Mufti has announced to launch a campaign to highlight miseries faced by the people and “total breakdown of governance in the state.”
 The spokesman said the meeting regretted that the present regime led by National Conference has “failed to provide amenities like power and ration to the people apart from solving the problem of unemployment and checking the rising prices of essential commodities.”
 “The meeting discussed the grave situation caused by government’s inability to perform on any front which has led to a virtual anarchy at political and administrative levels,” the spokesman said. “It was noted that the ruling coalition has lost its contact with the masses and is unable to provide a direction to the administration in accordance with the needs and aspirations of people.”
 Addressing the meeting, Mufti said: “PDP is charged with a historic duty of redeeming the state from its worst phase of history. While the party will continue to pursue its broad political and development agenda it will not give the government the luxury of an unaccounted and disastrous performance,” he said.
 Mufti said the party cadres will have to rise to the occasion and identify themselves with the people. “The party has to take up the challenge of exposing an insensitive government that has reversed all the gains made earlier. NC has returned to its old tradition of nepotism, corruption, atrocities and is now trying to survive merely through its administrative tools rather than behaving as a political party that would feel  accountable to people,” he said, adding “the PDP was in the field to re establish the rights of all sections of society living in the state.”
 The PDP spokesman said it was noted that the decline in power supply had occurred in spite of the fact that Baghlihar, Dulhasti and many other smaller projects had started generation since 2008.
 “The participants felt it was a case of mismanagement and administrative failure of the Omar Abdullah government that had taken people for granted,” he said.
 “The meeting expressed concern over government’s inability to address the acute unemployment problem. The youth have been pushed to the wall by an insensitive government that had only one achievement to its credit on the employment front.”
 The spokesman said: “While Kashmir and parts of Jammu region have borne the brunt of excesses and atrocities other areas of the state have been left to the mercy of criminals. In Jammu criminals are ruling the roost in connivance with some elements in administration.”

Lastupdate on : Sun, 9 Jan 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 9 Jan 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 10 Jan 2011 00:00:00 IST