Governor hits out at separatists and mainstream leaders in J&K

Leaders of Hurriyat and mainstream parties, religious preachers, and clerics have used their influence to get the children of ordinary Kashmiris killed while none of them lost their own to terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik said on Tuesday. Alleging that "affluent and powerful" sections have crushed the dreams of the youths in Kashmir and destroyed their lives, he appealed to the people to understand the truth and join the Centre's efforts to usher peace and progress in the State.

Their own children are well settled but the child of a commoner is shown that "the way to paradise is to get killed," Malik said addressing the seventh convocation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University in Katra town. "Politicians, bureaucrats, affluent and powerful have crushed the dreams of the youths and destroyed their lives. The society leaders, religious preachers, Moulvis, Hurriyat and mainstream parties have used their influence to get the children of ordinary Kashmiris killed. None of them have lost their own child and nobody from their families joined terrorism," he said. 

'No input from intelligence agencies'

Malik, who is known for his candid remarks, said that after joining as Governor, "I have not taken input from the intelligence agencies. They are not telling the truth to Delhi or us." "I directly talked to 150 to 200 youths and tried to identify those in colleges and universities who do not stand up for the national anthem. I talked to them and those in the age group of 25 to 30 years, whose dreams have been crushed, are misled and are angry... they do not want Hurriyat, us or Delhi government or autonomy because they were shown that the way to paradise is by getting martyred," he said.

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'You have a paradise'

The Governor said that he told such youths that they already have a paradise in Kashmir. "I want to tell the people of Kashmir and the youth to understand the truth. You have a beautiful place in the world to live in. Come forward and be part of the new phase and tread the path of progress and development," he said.

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Over 20,000 Kashmiris go outside for education

The Governor said that 22,000 Kashmiri youths are outside the State for education."Why do they have to go outside for education? It is because we have not been able to provide standard education in the State over the last many decades. If the money which was pumped into Kashmir was used by politicians and bureaucrats in a proper manner, the roof of your homes would have been of gold," he said. Malik further said that he had sanctioned 53 degrees colleges last year and is opening 50 more colleges including professional colleges, in the state shortly. "I have upgraded 242 schools to higher secondary school overnight," he said.

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