Expressing confidence that the Peoples Democratic Party will bounce back in a revitalised form on the state’s political scene, senior party leader and former minister Naeem Akhtar said on Wednesday that the party will continue to push for peace with dignity which is the focal point of its agenda.
Interacting with workers in Tangmarg constituency, Akhtarsaid that the recent reverses in elections are a temporary setback and that theleadership has started working on a revival plan and the party cadre is beingrevitalised to carry on the party’s political campaign with renewed vigour.
Akhtar stated further that the party has always held theneed of dialogue and political approach as the only way out of the unendingcrises the state is facing for many decades and all mainstream parties are nowveering around which was not the case before the emergence of PDP. “Themainstreaming of the political problems of Kashmir is the lasting contributionof PDP and it will continue to pursue it till durable peace is restored in thestate and people start living a normal and peaceful life,” Akhtar said.
He added that the party believes that a structured dialoguemust be initiated with Pakistan and other stakeholders to find a way out of theimpasse that we are finding ourselves in.
According to the PDP leader, during the recently concludedelection campaign, the country almost came to war with neighbouring Pakistanand the epicentre of this grave situation was unfortunately Kashmir. “This factshould remind everybody that strong arm methods and non-political approach canonly worsen things and not improve them. The state needs a humane handling andpromotion of genuine democratic process which cannot be achieved by inspiredfragmentation of votes in a particular region of the state,” said Akhtar.
Senior PDP leader Abdul Qayoom Wani, party’s candidate forassembly polls Shabir Ahmad Mir and other senior leaders also spoke on theoccasion and highlighted the need to revitalise the PDP cadre and make it a guidingforce in Jammu and Kashmir to reckon with.