SRINAGAR, SEPTEMBER 19 – Former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Qureshi on Saturday said the demand for restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir was “absolutely justified” and called for the process to be completed at the earliest, saying the delay was “unfair”.
Speaking on the sidelines of a memorial lecture for former bureaucrat Muhammad Shafi Pandit, Qureshi said the people of Jammu and Kashmir should get their rights and recalled the assurance given before the Supreme Court regarding restoration of statehood.
“Their demand is absolutely justified and it should have been done as soon as possible. It is taking so long. This is very unfair and wrong,” he said.
Qureshi said the Centre’s assurance before the Supreme Court that statehood would be restored “as soon as possible” should be honoured.
“Now, it is not as soon as possible, it has been three-four years. So, this is unfair,” he said.
On the return of Kashmiri Pandits, he said it was disappointing that members of the community had not yet returned to their homes, while welcoming efforts being made for their return.
“This is a very disappointing thing that they have not returned yet. But the efforts that are being made to bring them back are commendable. They should return,” he said.
Qureshi said Kashmir needed a restoration of the sense of belonging and acceptance that existed between Kashmiri Muslims and Pandits in earlier times.
He said the return of that shared social and cultural ethos was important for Kashmir, referring to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s emphasis on “Kashmiri culture, humanity and democracy”.
He said the idea of “original Kashmir”, where Kashmiri Muslims and Pandits lived together, should return.
“The demand of Kashmiri culture is that the original Kashmir, in which the Kashmiri Pandits and the Kashmiri Muslims lived together, that era should return,” he said.
On the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370, Qureshi said the decision may have been considered necessary at the time, but stressed that the assurance on restoration of statehood should be honoured.
He was speaking at a memorial lecture organised in memory of Muhammad Shafi Pandit, whom he described as a friend and former service colleague. Qureshi said Pandit had formed a citizens’ group during his lifetime to raise issues of public importance.
“He is in need of today’s time as well. Because of this, his initiative is very far-sighted and he needs complete support,” he said.(KNS)
