Srinagar, Oct 12 :
Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday criticized the government over its handling of youth-related issues, particularly its promises regarding detained youth, as well as other public grievances and unfulfilled commitments.
Addressing a party convention in Srinagar Mehbooba as per news agency Kashmir News Corner — KNC said about the hardships faced by citizens, Mehbooba Mufti said, “We are caught in these difficulties. We thought that by casting our votes and holding together, our problems would be resolved.”
She said, “We had hoped that after the elections, attention would be given to those detained, especially young people in jails. Even if they were not released, at least they could have been shifted from prisons outside Kashmir to jails within the region so that their families could meet them. Young people lodged in Tihar Jail, for example, cannot even be seen by their families. How can a poor parent afford to spend lakhs of rupees to visit their child in distant prisons? We thought that after the elections, they would at least receive some relief and that lawyers or the government would help them in some way.”
Criticizing the government’s overall performance, she said, “The government has completed one year in office, and I understand that running a government is challenging. But I felt compelled to speak out about what is right and what is wrong. During Governor’s rule, whenever something wrong happened, we raised our voices and said it should not happen. But since the government was formed, major mistakes have been occurring. Government employees have been removed from service, many properties have been locked, and assets have been attached. Falaye-Aam trust schools were closed, Jamaat-e-Islami properties were attached, yet our government remained quiet. Forget Article 370, they could not even acknowledge that Geelani Sahab passed away. Even the house of an 80-year-old sick woman was attached.”
On unfulfilled promises regarding youth employment and education, she said, “The government had promised to release the detained youth from prisons, provide 1 lakh jobs, and rationalize open merit to benefit Kashmiris. However, due to open merit policies, local Kashmiris are losing out everywhere. Whenever these issues are raised, they blame the PDP-BJP, but the reality is different.” (KNC)