New Delhi: After a Supreme Court-mandated visit to Jammu and Kashmir, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday said that half of the population of the state which was involved in daily labour has lost its means of livelihood and demanded that the government provide them free ration for six months.
“One half of the population of Kashmir is linked to vocations like handicraft, the rest are shikarawalas, ponywalas and taxiwalas. Basically it is an economy which is deeply linked to tourism,” Mr Azad told the media here. He said that the government should also postpone loan replayments by at least one-and-a-half years to help the people overcome their financial troubles.
The Rajya Sabha member said that contrary to claims by the government, not only was nothing right in Kashmir but things were also not normal in Jammu as the economy of that region was completely dependent on Kashmir’s.
“Business in Jammu is zero. Firing and tension has increased on the borders,” he claimed asserting, “Jammu and Kashmir was a government-made problem”.
Mr Azad also claimed that since the Union Territories were formed out of Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre has been threatening the local administration.
“The state had been running fine. Terrorism had been at its lowest. Tourism was at its peak till the government took this decision on August 5,” he added.
The Congress leader demanded that all politicians under detention should be released immediately.
Azad said that he could give a report to the Supreme Court and mention names of people he met and what they told him. He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir were carrying out a Gandhian-style civil disobedience movement which too is directed at themselves and not at the government.
Home minister Amit Shah had earlier in the day claimed that there are no restrictions in the Valley and the Opposition was spreading “misinformation” about the situation.
