PDP President Mehbooba Mufti.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on April 14, in a letter written to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, sought reversal of the move to blacklist Valley-based contractors for his or her alleged previous militant hyperlinks or having a relative concerned in militancy.
“The majority of the contractors blacklisted by the L-G administration don’t have a militant past and have had no involvement in violent activities. Others had given up the path of militancy long before turning contractors,” Ms. Mufti stated, within the letter.
Scores of Valley-based contractors, on the premise of police verifications and deep vetting by the CID, have been delisted from participating in any authorities work.
Ms. Mufti stated they have been being blacklisted “on mere assumptions of links with militants”.
Highlighting the coverage adopted by earlier governments for many who gave up the trail of violence and needed to return to regular life, Ms. Mufti stated, “Their decision to do so was fraught with many dangerous consequences. Many were gunned down for making a choice that was viewed as a betrayal. It was a difficult transition for these contractors and others who shunned the gun.”
She stated her father and former J&Okay CM Mufti Mohammad Syed advocated monetary assist to victims of militancy, together with the orphans of insurgents. “The rehabilitation package was implemented during the tenure of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,” she stated.
She urged Mr. Sinha and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to rethink his choice on humanitarian grounds. “Several contractors are suffering because they have been blacklisted by the L-G administration on trivial grounds. I urge Union Home Minister Amit Shah to reconsider the decision that will wreak havoc with the lives of innocents,” Ms. Mufti stated.
