We wont allow to trade people's dignity: Mufti

Srinagar, May 2: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said his party was the ''custodian of Jammu and Kashmir's political and economic interests'' and would never allow anybody to trade the honour and dignity of the people for power.

Addressing PDP workers from Amirakadal, Hazratbal and Iddgah constituencies here, he said right from the beginning, the party has advocated the political and economic agenda of the state with determination and gave voice to the people's aspirations at the appropriate forums.

''Whether in or out of power, the PDP represented the genuine and just concerns of the people and strived for the mitigation of their sufferings,'' Mr Sayeed added.

He said while participating in the coalition government, the PDP ensured that the people get relief, both on the security and development fronts.

These pro-people measures provided the fundamental input for bringing about a sea-change in the ground situation thereby infusing credibility in the state's democratic and political institutions and processes, the PDP leader added.

Mr Sayeed said for consolidating the gains of the peace and reconciliation process and to perk up the ground situation for future initiatives there should be inevitably no let up in the momentum of the people-oriented measures.

The former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said the present situation now demanded political sagacity and visionary spirited initiatives to make a tangible difference to the state's political and economic scenario. ''The positive change in the people's mindset and their growing confidence in the democratic institutions and processes should not be allowed to drift away,'' he added.

Mr Sayeed said it was imperative to address the genuine political concerns of the people and their development needs have to be taken care of to tackle the fragile situation holistically.

Earlier, raising public issues, the PDP workers while expressing disappointment over the dilapidating situation of the city and its peripheral areas, sought Mr Sayeed's intervention in improving the condition of the roads and other civic amenities. They complained that important projects that were under execution for the development of the city have come to a standstill and the people in the summer capital feel utterly neglected and dejected.

The PDP workers emphasised that the condition of roads in the city was especially crying for attention as almost all the arterial links were rundown and need immediate improvement.

They said work on the ongoing projects in the city such as upgrading Dalgate-Hazratbal road, Indira Gandhi Road, construction of bridges at Saidakadal, Ashaibagh, Dalgate, Kanikadal and Gawkadal, construction of flyovers near Dlagate and Aloochibagh, six-laning of by-pass, upgrading the Srinagar airport, beautification of Iddgah, conservation of Dal Lake, development of tourism infrastructure, beautification of shrines, improvement of sewerage and drainage system and improvement of link roads has almost come to a grinding halt and people were suffering for want of better amenities.

The PDP workers said the beautification of Jhelum banks, started in 2004, has shockingly been stopped and not a single stone has moved since then. They demanded that the work on the project should resume immediately.

While appreciating the removal of the security forces' bunkers from various parts of the city, they called for speeding up the process so that bottlenecks causing restrictions in the smooth movement of traffic on important roads were removed immediately. The workers also demanded measures for streamlining the traffic movement in the summer capital of the state as frequent jams have made the life of the people miserable.

The PDP patron assured the party workers that the issues highlighted by them would be taken up with the government for immediate action. He said Srinagar was the face of the Kashmir valley and has to be developed with focused attention and thrust.

Mr Sayeed said especially in view of the upcoming tourism season, the government must improve the civic facilities in the city so that both the common people and the visitors get the relief.

UNI