Srinagar, Sep 14: Senior National Conference leader and MLA Tanvir Sadiq on Monday said the BRICS summit was an important development, but argued that any improvement in the situation in Jammu and Kashmir must translate into tangible benefits for its people.
Sadiq was responding to questions about the BRICS summit and recent statements by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, including his remarks on the situation following the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A in 2019.
“If we are only talking about the BRICS summit, then it is a good thing that economies from different parts of the world have come together, and that it happened in India,” Sadiq said.
However, he said the summit should not be used in isolation to assess the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
“But if you are relating it to how the situation has been in Jammu and Kashmir, then if the situation has improved, I would like to raise that point again: its dividend should reach the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Sadiq said those who had contributed to the improvement in the situation should be the beneficiaries of its gains.
“The benefits that come from this dividend should go to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the people who have participated wholeheartedly,” he said.
He also argued that the administration should respond to public demands if the situation in the region was indeed normal.
“If the situation has become better and people today come out on the roads and make their demands, then those demands should be fulfilled,” Sadiq said.
The NC leader also questioned whether the concerns and expectations of Jammu and Kashmir’s elected government were being adequately addressed by the Centre.
“Where the BRICS summit is important, the BJP and the government in Delhi also need to see whether the representation and the sentiments of their elected government in Jammu and Kashmir are being fulfilled,” he said.
Sadiq said the Centre had yet to deliver on commitments made to Jammu and Kashmir, despite two years having passed since the current elected government took office.
“Because it has been two years now, and what was promised to us by this very government in Delhi has still not been fulfilled,” he said.
“I feel that while other things are important, this is also very important,” Sadiq added.
