Hindustan Times (Chandigarh)

Sinha: Need to begin J&K dialogue for peace, stability

New J&K L-G says uncertaint­y and terrorism’ should end

- Mir Ehsan

Srinagar:authoritie­s will initiate a dialogue in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) without any discrimina­tion in order to usher in peace and developmen­t, Manoj Sinha, who was sworn in as the second lieutenant governor (LG) of the Union Territory, said on Friday, sending out a message of unity in his first speech after taking charge.

Sinha, 61, a three-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliament­arian, stressed that “peace and stability” should prevail in J&K while “uncertaint­y and terrorism” should end. “Achieving all this along with accelerate­d developmen­t will be our aim, our mission,” he said after the oath ceremony at the Raj Bhavan in Srinagar.the appointmen­t of Sinha, a former Union minister, is being seen as an indication of the Centre’s will to initiate the political process in J&K at a time when the region is grappling with multiple issues, from security concerns to a tumultuous social and political landscape.

After years of isolation, J&K has joined the national mainstream, Sinha said, referring to the central government’s move to nullify Article 370, which conferred special status to the erstwhile state, and bifurcate it into two UTS — J&K with a legislativ­e assembly and Ladakh without one — on August 5, 2019.

“I have been told that many works which could not be completed in years have been completed in the past one year. I want to accelerate that developmen­t,” Sinha said. “We need to establish a dialogue with the common people of Jammu and Kashmir. We don’t have any agenda in that; there will be no discrimina­tion against anyone. Constituti­on will be Gita in that,” he added.

Later in the day, Sinha chaired a high-level meeting of administra­tive secretarie­s of the government at the civil secretaria­t. He was briefed on developmen­t projects in the UT, among other issues.sinha, who was administer­ed the oath of office by J&K chief justice Gita Mittal, takes over from Indian Administra­tive Service (IAS) officer Girish Chandra Murmu, who resigned on Wednesday night and was later appointed the Comptrolle­r and Auditor General (CAG) of India.

BJP leaders such as Jitendra Singh, minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office; former deputy chief ministers Kavinder

Gupta and Nirmal Singh; and BJP state president Ravindra Raina, among others, were present at the oath ceremony. The newly launched Apni Party was represente­d by Ghulam Hassan Mir, Mohammad Ashraf Mir and former legislator Zaffar Manhas. The National Conference (NC) did not attend Sinha’s oath ceremony though both Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah were invited.

Justice (retd) Hasnain Masoodi, a senior NC leader and a parliament­arian, said: “Nothing will happen unless there is a change in the approach towards the people. Changing faces have no meaning. As a matter of principle, nobody from the NC attended the oath ceremony.”

J&K Congress president Ghulam Ahmad Mir said nobody from his party got an invite. “This is how the BJP intends to start the political process in J&K...” he said. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spokespers­on Tahir Sayed, too, said his party did not attend the event. “Nazir Ahmad Laway (a Rajya Sabha member) attended the ceremony, but he was expelled from the PDP...’’

Asem Bhat, a political commentato­r, underscore­d the challenges before Sinha. “...dozens of political leaders are under house arrest. One former CM (PDP’S Mehbooba Mufti) is detained under PSA (Public Safety Act)...”

As protests erupted in the wake of the August 5 announceme­nt last year, several political leaders and activists, including three former CMS — Farooq and Omar Abdullah, and Mufti — were detained as a preventive measure. While prominent politician­s, including the Abdullahs, have been released, Mufti and several others are still in detention.

Sinha became a Lok Sabha member for the first time in 1996 from Ghazipur, and won election from the seat in 1999 as well. He was elected to the Lower House for a third time in 2014. Sinha held the portfolio of minister of state for railways between May 2014 and July 2016, and was later given the independen­t charge of the ministry of telecommun­ications.

An alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi, formerly known as Banaras Engineerin­g College, Sinha is not unfamiliar with a tricky turf. He overcame the caste faultiness in his constituen­cy of Ghazipur, which was also once a Left bastion. J&K, however, is a challenge of a different magnitude.

 ?? PTI ?? Manoj Sinha takes oath in Srinagar on Friday.
PTI Manoj Sinha takes oath in Srinagar on Friday.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from India