Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday hinted at the start of the electoral process in Jammu and Kashmir by the end of this year.
Singh was addressing the gathering at the 200th Raj Tilak celebrations of Maharaja Gulab Singh here at a function.
“Recently the Delimitation Exercise in Jammu and Kashmir has been completed after which the assembly constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir increased to 90 including 43 seats from Jammu and 47 seats from Kashmir,” Singh said.
He said, “I feel that by the end of this year, it is expected that the election process will also be initiated.”
Jammu and Kashmir, Singh said was always known for being multicultural society, adding, “I want to appeal to the people of this region that our social fabric, brotherhood and bond is our biggest strength and efforts must be made to protect it by rising above the line of any religion, caste, culture and creed.”
“There are some forces in Jammu and Kashmir, who are trying to create a wedge in the social fabric but all of us have to collectively foil designs of these elements making an attempt of disrupting peace and harmony,” he said.
Quoting the recent incident of Bhaderwah town where curfew was imposed after some “communal tension”, Singh said, “such attempts were made yet again in Bhaderwah, which is against the culture of this region. No region or nation can progress by spreading hate.”
“Our neighbor (without naming Pakistan) is playing a major role in sowing the seeds of hatred and the recent target killings have also foreign hands,” Rajnath Singh said and added that they (Pakistan) are unable to digest the development and progress in Jammu and Kashmir.
In the last 70 years, Singh said that only Rs 17000 crore investment came to J&K from outside but after the revocation of Article 370, in two years, Rs 38,000 crore was invested, which proves that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi headed government in the centre, the picture and destiny of J&K is changing very fast.
Recalling August 5, 2019, Rajnath Singh said that after the abrogation of article 370 Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed massive transformation.
“I was shocked to know that before abrogation of Article 370, Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) were not to be given to people, land laws as well as Anti-Corruption Act were not implemented and Valmiki Samaj had no rights,” he said.
“Now we have provided rights to every section of society and also took initiative to promote Dogri along with Kashmiri as well as Hindi,” he said, adding 117 acts including Anti-Corruption were implemented post August 5.
Singh also ensured that the present government in the Centre will not allow any forced migration of any community in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Every section of the society should come forward and pledge to fulfill the dream of Maharaja Gulab Singh he saw 200 years back of peaceful and developed Jammu and Kashmir, which is a true tribute to the Maharaja,” said the Union Minister.
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