Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday slammed National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah over his statement on power projects, stating that NC should remain silent on the issue if they are not able to join forces with the PDP and other stake holders in seeking these power projects back from Delhi.
Reacting to Omar Abdullah's recent statement in which had termed the handing Ratle power project to NHPC a sellout, senior PDP leader and former minister Naeem Akhtar said that PDP has from the very beginning been against such surrender of state resources and it rejected the proposal of handing over Ratle when it was in power. The PDP Government had prepared for its takeover by the JK Power Development Corporation.
He added that it is ironic that now NC is trying to "brazen out the loot it facilitated" with the brute majority in the state assembly. "It began with the Indus Water Treaty- the first sharing of water between the dominions of India and Pakistan but the then Prime Minister of the state was at that time neither consulted nor did he find anything wrong in this. Then it started with Salal and ended with joint ventures under Omar Abdullah. In between when NC in 1996 came to power having 60 seats in the assembly, Farooq Abdullah gave away power projects as a price of Omar Abdullah's continuation in the BJP led government as a junior minister. NC handed electric power to Delhi in order to secure its political power and monopoly in the the state," Akhtar said.
He said that it is time for everybody to rise above politics and launch a joint campaign in all the three regions of the state because at the end of the day, it is everybody whether he is living in Jammu, Kashmir or Ladakh who is suffering due to the loss of state's water resources. "It is unfortunate that NC is playing politics over the state's worsening power scenario and if the party is not brave enough to acknowledge is anti-state role and apologise to people for the same, it must at least stay silent on the issue," Akhtar said .
'INSTALLING PRE-PAID METERS YET ANOTHER ANTI-PEOPLE DECISION'
Meanwhile, senior PDP leader and MLC Muhammad Khurshid Alam said the decision to install the pre-paid electric meters in Kashmir is yet another example of the "indifferent attitude" of the Governor's administration towards the people. "Decision to install so called pre-paid meters in Kashmir is yet another way of intimidating and harassing the local people who already are bearing the brunt of uncertainty, economic losses and acute paucity of electricity," he said in a statement.
"Instead of finding its own faults and taking remedial measures so that people do not face such intense amount of difficulties, the government seems to be on the mission of harassing the people of Kashmir in every possible manner," Alam alleged.
