CM praises Jammu ‘peace’, keeps mum on resignations

SHABIR AHMAD

SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti lavished praises on Jammu for being “peaceful” but kept mum on the crisis that erupted in the PDP after the resignation of two Cabinet Ministers, Syed Basharat Bukhari and Imran Raza Ansari. After the function, the reporters tried to talk to Mehbooba Mufti over the party crisis with the resignation of two Cabinet ministers, but she evaded all queries. She talked about the apple scheme and drove away. “Peace is inevitable for development of Jammu and Kashmir and it is vital that the people of Kashmir should understand the importance of peace for prosperity and growth,” said the Chief Minister while speaking at a function here at SKICC where she launched the High Density Apple Plantation Scheme. Mehbooba also said that the quality of education in Valley had been severely affected due to the exodus of the Pandit community with the onset of militancy in 1990.
“It was the exodus of the Pandit community from the Valley with the inception of militancy because of which quality education in this land-locked region became a distant dream,” she said.
Mehbooba said that Jammu has been peaceful and is hence progressing. “The Jammu region of the state is excelling in education as Pandits, who have been great teachers, have since been imparting education in Jammu while Kashmir Valley was deprived of the noble souls and great teachers. This is why quality education is flourishing in Jammu region while it has become a herculean task to put it back on track here in Kashmir,” she said.

The Chief Minister said that she had herself been taught by a Pandit teacher like most of the people of her generation. “I can tell you with certainty that Pandits are really great teachers and it is their contribution to the state that it has renowned medicos, academicians and people who have proved their mettle in their respective fields,” she said.