Jammu, April 27 (KNO) : Hailing the people of Jammu for upholding the values of brotherhood and amity despite severe provocations, Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti today appealed the people to carry forward this tradition of social inclusion and not let any vested elements cause any wedge among different communities and people. Interacting with the members of civil society here this evening, the Chief Minister praised the people of Jammu region for upholding harmony and brotherhood among themselves despite severe provocations and defeating the evil designs of miscreants who are out to divide people in different names. She said during the toughest phases of past the people stood up for the tolerant values for which the State has been known since ages and for this they ought to be complimented.
Mehbooba Mufti said strengthening of an inclusive set up in the State was the idea behind stitching up the present alliance in the State so that people, regions and communities get further closer to each other and march together on the path of progress. She, however, cautioned people against the nefarious designs of some vested elements who do not like this amity and are keen to create an opportunity to disturb peace. Referring to the recent shameful incident of rape and murder of a young girl at Kathua, Mehbooba Mufti assured the audience that justice would be done in the case and whosoever found guilty would be punished. She said the vehemence with which every section of local society including students, women, children, aged stood up demanding justice for the victim was encouraging for the whole State.
Terming peace and communal harmony as pre requisite for development, the Chief Minister said she has conceived many developmental ideas for the region like developing border tourism at Suchetgarh, cable car for the city, development of heritage spots like Mubarak Mandi and Raghunath Mandir. During the interaction, several speakers put across their suggestions for the development of the region. Among these included frequent interactions among communities and regions, development of tourism to strengthen economy, construction of tunnel on Mughal Road, conducting research activities at Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, welfare of farmers, completion of on-going developmental projects, making the governance apparatus women friendly and start of a Dogri channel on Doordarshan.
The participants in the interaction included members from business community, intellectuals, writers, scholars, lawyers, women activists, social workers, farmers, retired officers, community leaders and representatives from other sections of society.