Jammu, Apr 26: Governor, N N Vohra on Thursday said that sustained normalcy and peace are pre-requisites for progress and prosperity of the state.
 The Governor while addressing about 120 Office-bearers and Executive Committee members of the Jammu and Kashmir Peace Foundation, from all over the state, who called on him at Raj Bhavan here said, “Every necessary step must be taken to restore lasting peace and tranquillity in the state.”
 Observing that sustained peace and normalcy is an essential pre-requisite for rapid progress and prosperity, the Governor said that it was, therefore, necessary that all of us should contribute to secure the objective of peace and harmony so that JK becomes a frontline developed State in the coming years. He said that significant breakthrough has been made in the past few years to restore this glory of the state and hoped that we would recover the entire last ground and again make the State what it was known for, in not too distant a future.
 Referring to the unfortunate situation in the state in the past years, he said that this had led to heavy human and economic losses and severely damaged our high traditions of communal harmony, secular ethos and value systems.
 He said in the wake of the partition of the country in 1947 when the entire sub-continent was in the grip of a communal frenzy, it was in Jammu and Kashmir that Mahatma Gandhi had seen a ray of light,
 We have to fully restore and strengthen the same spirit of reconciliation and accommodation, he said.
 He said a significant breakthrough has been made in the past few years to restore peace in the state.
 Ghulam Hassan Mir, Minister for Agriculture, who is the Patron of the Jammu and Kashmir Peace Foundation, said the youth can play a vital role in the effort of restoring peace in the state.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 IST