SRINAGAR, Sep 16: National Conference Lok Sabha MP Ruhullah Mehdi on Tuesday criticised the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway during the peak fruit season in the valley, and alleged it was a “deliberate ploy” to harm Jammu and Kashmir’s economy.
Fruit-laden trucks from Kashmir have been stranded for days due to the closure of the critical highway following heavy rains and flash floods, with growers expressing apprehensions of losses.
The 270 km-long Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH44) was closed for nine consecutive days following heavy rainfall last month. It was reopened last week, but only for light motor vehicles.
“There is a pattern, sometimes substandard pesticide is sold, sometimes cheaper apples are imported, and sometimes highway is closed. Our horticulture contributes more than 75 per cent to our GDP. It contributes seven times more than tourism. But, there is a pattern of a war against our horticulture,” Mehdi alleged while speaking to reporters in Shopian.
The Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar said even when the highway has been opened for traffic, “the stranded trucks from Srinagar have not been allowed to move to Jammu”.
“If trucks from Jammu are allowed to move towards Srinagar, why are our fruit-laden trucks not allowed to move? Before this, a year or so ago, our fruit-laden trucks were stopped on the highway deliberately, and the fruit was left to rot. There is a clear pattern of an attack on our economy. The closure of the highway is a part of that,” he charged, adding, “it is being done deliberately”.
However, Mehdi expressed hope that the movement of heavy vehicles would be restored on the highway sooner.
Welcoming the Supreme Court’s order to put on hold some key provisions of the Waqf Amendment Act, Mehdi, a firebrand Shia leader, said law should be applied equally on everyone across all religions.
“I appeal to the Supreme Court in general that law should be applied equally on everyone, across all religions. If Muslims cannot govern institutions of other religions, then how can it be applied on the Muslims?” he said. He said the SC order has sent a positive message, “but that is not the end.” “Hopefully, this positive start will open doors for the justice that we hope from the Supreme Court,” he added.
To a question on the PSA on AAP’s Doda MLA Mehraj Malik, Mehdi said people have to stand up against the “PSA regime”.
“I have said no one is safe. Any citizen of J-K who talks about his rights is not safe. It is up to us to either just watch the situation or get proactive and fight against this PSA regime… This will only stop when we fight it together,” he said.
Without naming his party’s government in the Union territory, the Srinagar MP said “those we gave the mandate to, have perhaps not understood that they have to stand up against this regime proactively”.
“I want to tell them to wake up and understand this. If they stay silent right now, then their turn will also come. If they don’t wake up, then we all have to rise and stand against it,” Mehdi said.
