PM urges J&K youth to return to mainstream
SRINAGAR: Three days after the suspension of counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir for the Islamic holy month of Ramzan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday appealed to young militants to return to the mainstream, as the Valley shut down to protest his visit.
Modi was in Srinagar to unveil a plaque for the upcoming Srinagar Ring Road and to inaugurate the 330-MW Kishenganga power project which has come up in Bandipora. Earlier, he kickstarted work on Zojila Tunnel on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway in Leh.
“I believe the youth who have lost their way should come back to the mainstream. The mainstream is their family and parents. The mainstream is their participation in the development of the state,” Modi said in an address to a gathering at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre in Srinagar.
Modi blamed foreign forces for the young in Jammu and Kashmir going astray.
“Every stone or weapon picked up by the misguided youth injures their own Jammu and Kashmir. You will have to come out of this atmosphere. Not only your future but for the future of J&K, you will have to join the Indian mainstream,’’ he said.
CHATHA (JAMMU): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday laid emphasis upon technologydriven development, which he said will put the state back on the rails. At the convocation of Shere-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu, the PM asked the passing out graduates to utilise their degrees for improving socio-economic condition of farmers across the country. “Agriculture has to be based on technology. A new culture has to be invoked into farming and so I urge those passing out today to keep the student alive within, which can fetch them innovative ideas to develop farming,” he said.
“Over 400 degrees were given. I congratulate all, especially our daughters, who are doing wonders in all fields,” he said during his 28-minute speech. The PM told students that their degrees were not merely degrees but letters of hope for farmers.
In the backdrop of climatic changes with majority of farmers relying on rains, he said our mission should be “per drop more crop”. Later, PM inaugurated Tarakote Marg and material ropeway projects of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi and laid foundation stones of Jammu ring road and 1000MW Pakal Dul hydroelectric project before returning to Delhi.