Kashmir Reform Group, a group of students and businessman Saturday hold rally in Srinagar’s Press Enclave and were seeking an alternate to precede the ongoing freedom struggle in Kashmir.
Kashmir Reform Group (KRG) members assembled at press colony and silently hold banners displaying ‘We want an alternate to precede the ongoing freedom movement’.
The group was also supported by Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) led by Muhammad Yasin Khan.
While talking to press, Khurram Qadir, President of the group said that such frequent shutdown and stone pelting is hampering the educational career of the students. “Kashmiri leadership should find an alternate to pressurize India for achieving the goal,” he said.
Khurram said that Shutdowns and stone pelting has shattered Kashmiris economy. “Economy is that part of humans that makes worst enemies’ friend’s biggest example being the recent gas pipeline deal between India and Pakistan and involving other countries as well,” he said.
He said that over a period of time it has been realized that shutdowns and stone pelting has not been a great way of achieving of our goals. “If the goal is to keep the sentiment alive and not the actual realization of it then it surely makes sense. If hartal and stone pelting would bring resolution then Kashmir would have achieved it in 2008 and 2010,” he said.
He said that despite achieving the goal, people here have started losing faith in this system as it has produced no results, the trend of hartal and following of it has gone majorly down. “We need to accept the realty. Strike calls used to be implemented and followed all over the state but now it has restricted itself to the area of mishap. Are we waiting for another 10 years to realize that this doesn't work?,” Khurram questioned.
Giving an example of Pulwama shutdown which continued almost for 16 days, Khurram said that the shutdown observed by Pulwama proved worthless as it again gave no fruits and had to be called off due to traders appeal. “Psychologically people get so dejected that soon after the hartal got over there was a martyr in the area and people did not protest at all in any form,” he said.
He further said that strikes only lead to draining of our wealth and make the institutions like banks stronger. “Work stops but not the installments,” he said. (Agencies)