Apni Party Vice President Zaffar Iqbal Manhas Thursday said that progress and prosperity were subservient to peace in which violence acts as a deterrent force.
A statement of Apni Party issued here said that addressing at a one-day public meet at Dairoo in Shopian, Manhas said that for the sustainable development and progress of Kashmir there exists a dire need of peace.
“The economic development has been always hampered by political instability. However, that trend needs to end now and government must assure that peace and progress prevails simultaneously,” he said.
Expressing resentment over the decision of NC of boycotting the Delimitation Commission’s meeting, Manhas said such an action had compromised the future of the people of J&K.
“Since 1953 we have witnessed the calls of boycott from NC and other parties. However, such boycotts have always resulted against the interests of the people,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Apni Party Youth General Secretary Abhay Bakaya raised serious concerns over the rising unemployment rates in J&K and urged the government to devise a comprehensive strategy to counter this ominous trend.
“The rising unemployment rates have pushed the youth in J&K towards depression, alienation and drug addiction. The government must act in this regard at the earliest so that our young are saved from destruction,” Bakaya said. He said that the reports from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) had suggested that Jammu and Kashmir had the second-worst unemployment rate among all the states and union territories in the country.