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Srinagar, July 13 (UNI) Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said the people of the state even after six decades of independence still have to wait for full political, social and economic empowerment.

Paying glowing tributes to the martyrs of July 13, 1931, he said the people of Jammu and Kashmir were yet to reap the benefits of globalisation and liberalisation sweeping the region.

''The history is witness that the people of Kashmir have been made to pay a huge price for the troubles forced on them from time to time.'' Mr Sayeed added.

The PDP patron said the time had come to end the protracted miseries of the state and its people. If there was political will and wisdom, a peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue could be as reachable today as it had never been in the past, he added.

The former union home minister said the only way to workable peace in the region was the permanent resolution of the contentious Kashmir issue.

The martyrs had made supreme sacrifice for the political empowerment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir by rising against the autocratic rule on July 13, 1931.

''The date will always be remembered as a defining moment in the state's history when the edifice of struggle for democratic rule was laid with the blood of these brave men. I offer heartfelt tributes to martyrs who paid with their lives for the political empowerment of their brethren,'' the PDP leader said.

UNI