Srinagar: People’s Conference chairman Sajad Lone on Thursday said the recent political outreach from the Government of India was a “welcome step” but asserted that Jammu and Kashmir-based political parties have to make an “enabling environment for facilitating New Delhi to deliver.”
“As on date there are no winners and losers. It is a long process. And we have to make an enabling environment for facilitating delivery. And that cannot be done by rhetoric. Let us not by our rhetoric create hurdles. And if delivery becomes difficult there is only one loser which are the people of Kashmir. We must understand that through rousing and rhetorical statements maybe we are able to address our constituents but then that may make delivery difficult,” Lone said while addressing a press conference at his residence here.
Commenting on the recently held all-party meeting, Lone hailed the invited leaders and said they “made people of J&K feel proud.”
“I don’t think there was any single leader who did not make their people proud. All parties, especially from the Kashmir region, made their people proud. All spoke well and reflected the pain of the people. I as a Kashmiri and not as a political leader felt proud that all leaders spoke for the people of Kashmir and reflected their pain in a befitting manner,” Lone said. “If I was to give marks, I would give equal marks to all Kashmiri leaders present in the meeting. I pay my respects to all the leaders over there.”
Lone said he was hopeful that there would be a way forward and a second step taken after the all-party meet.
“We recently attended the APM chaired by the Prime Minister. Given this engagement is an ongoing process and the propriety demands that we cannot totally divulge in detail what we said. But all we can say is that we welcome the meeting. It was held after more than two years of upheaval,” Lone said.
Lone said the central leadership was expecting the Jammu and Kashmir based leaders to have a “look forward” attitude rather than raking up the past. “The leadership demands we look towards the future for a bright tomorrow rather than something in the recent past which we don’t agree with. We hope it starts a phase of reconciliation between Delhi and Srinagar” Lone said.
Commenting on the recent trend which has seen some political leaders announcing not to contest Assembly polls if held for UT, Lone said: “There is a need to understand that boycotting elections has yielded no results. We should look at the other side as well as keeping away the opponents could be a trap. We have boycotted elections for 15-20 years, what if it is a trap to scare away all the good people and bring in their proxies? Look at the other point of view, if the opponents create conditions for you not to enter the fray, think for a moment, it might be a trap. The leadership would have to look at both sides,” Lone said. Lone said it was not appropriate for a leader to “boycott polls on an individual level” as all the leadership in a party was equal.
“I will not say that I will boycott the elections and the party will contest. We are all equal. I am not more moral than them. I’m not superior to them. If something is haram for me it is haram for them too,” Lone said.