New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi wound up his one-day visit to Kashmir on Thursday (March 7) amid a raging controversy that thousands of government employees posted in the valley were allegedly forced to attend his Srinagar rally.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah alleged that the “dictatorial” J&K administration “pulled out all stops to give the prime minister a crowd” while People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti shared a video of employees boarding buses at an unspecified location in the predawn hours on Thursday.
Ahead of Modi’s rally, Mehbooba claimed that these employees were “forcibly mobilised to paint a pretty picture that all is well (in J&K) post 2019.”
Authorities had made tight security arrangements for the first visit of Modi to Kashmir in nine years. Srinagar was declared a ‘Red Zone’ for drones by J&K Police while traffic was diverted on two key intersections around Bakshi Stadium, the venue of the rally.
Security forces standing guard near the entrance to Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar where Modi addressed a rally on March 7, 2023. Photo: Ubaid Mukhtar
‘Many were not allowed to enter the stadium’
Some shops in Srinagar around the venue, including in Maisuma adjoining Lal Chowk, which is Kashmir’s largest marketplace, were closed while vehicular movement was thin in the city. Amid intense cold, thousands of people, including employees, started queuing up outside the stadium on Thursday morning.
A female daily-wage employee, who works in J&K’s social welfare department, said that she was directed by her office to attend the rally. The woman, who wishes not to be named, had come from the frontier Kupwara district of north Kashmir.
“I left my home at 3 in the morning. I have been working in the government since 2005 but I get only Rs 2,000 monthly salary. If the prime minister would look into our issue, it would be nice,” the woman, who lives in Kupwara’s Chowkibal village, said.
Irfan Ahmad said that he left his home in the Kangan town of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district at 5 in the morning along with more than a dozen youngsters. “But when we reached the stadium, we were told it was already full. We had high hopes of getting an opportunity to meet the prime minister,” he said.
Irfan added: “There is high unemployment in Kashmir because of which our youngsters are ending their lives by suicide. We want him [the prime minister] to address this issue. The government should also waive off our electricity fees.”
Another youngster accompanying Irfan, who couldn’t be immediately identified, said: “I had come with high hopes to meet the prime minister but we were shifted to another stadium and made to sit there. There is so much unemployment in Kashmir. Our sisters are getting divorced within days of marriage. The government should address the uncertainties of Kashmiri youngsters.”
Md Sohail Akhtar, a resident of Bihar, said that he was not allowed to enter the stadium. “We wanted to talk to the prime minister about our problems. We work in Srinagar, and whenever there is some issue and businesses shut down, we are under pressure. It affects our earnings. Even today, I couldn’t go to work,” he said.
Ghulam Mohammad Parray, 78, who had come from Beerwah in central Kashmir’s Budgam district said that he took a bank loan for the marriage of his daughters. “I had applied for some financial assistance in the social welfare department. I was hoping to meet Modi saheb and seek his help but the security forces didn’t allow me inside the venue,” he said.
A long queue of people standing outside the venue of Prime Minister Modi’s rally in Srinagar, on March 7. Photo: Ubaid Mukhtar
Dynastic politics and corruption
Inside the stadium, Modi again targeted dynastic politics, without taking any names, and corruption, which he claimed were responsible for all the problems in Jammu and Kashmir. “Dynastic politics and corruption were long-standing problems but we have taken care of these problems,” he said.
Making a fervent poll pitch for the Bharatiya Janata Party, Modi said that the central government has empowered the backward and disadvantaged sections of society by providing reservation benefits to the Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Jammu and Kashmir.
“This is a new J&K for which we all have yearned for decades. This is a new J&K for which Syama Prasad Mukherjee sacrificed his life. In the eyes of the new J&K, there is a glitter of a (good) future. This J&K has determination to defeat the challenges of the future,” he added.
During the speech, Modi also announced the start of a campaign to promote Jammu and Kashmir as a wedding destination. “I am starting ‘Wed in India’ campaign. I urge those planning weddings to come and stay here for three to four days and spend lavishly so that locals can earn their bread and butter,” he said.
The prime minister said that he has been asking tourists to visit Jammu and Kashmir and purchase local products. “I also bought something from Srinagar today. I want to strengthen the economy which will open new avenues of employment for locals,” he said.
Modi said that he “won’t leave any stone unturned to repay the debt of the love given to me by the people of Kashmir”.
“I am working hard to win your hearts and I am seeing that I am on the right track. I have won your hearts and I will strive to win your hearts even more. This is Modi’s guarantee,” he said.
“Modi senz guarantee,” he added, in Kashmiri.
As Modi was addressing the crowd in the stadium, a video clip circulated on social media showing a woman, who attended the rally, regretting that she and other employees were not provided water or refreshments by the government despite making it to the venue from far-flung areas.
“We left home at 3 am because of our prime minister Modiji. I work with the social welfare department but I have come here as an ordinary citizen. Unfortunately, our department didn’t provide us any refreshment. We have been hungry since morning,” the video, which was shared by Mehbooba’s daughter Iltija Mufti, showed.
Earlier, Modi inaugurated and dedicated multiple developmental projects worth Rs 6,400 crore and also distributed appointment letters to approximately 1,000 new government recruits in J&K. Modi reportedly also launched 43 projects aimed at developing pilgrimage and tourist sites across India.
