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| Kashmiri parties rue their fate as GoI lifts ban on highway | | Slogan to hoodwink people slips away! | | Early Times Report
Jammu, May 10: Kashmir-based political parties are in trouble again, because they have lost a slogan to hoodwink people during the forthcoming assembly polls in the state.
National Conference, PDP and even Congress were heavily banking on the highway gag and were busy ridiculing the restriction of the civilian movement. These political groups used to issue statement every day against the government decision.
However, on Friday, these otherwise opportunistic political parties seem to have received a shock of life when government decided to scrap the restriction for Wednesdays and kept the same limited to Sundays only.
The Jammu and Kashmir government on Friday said the civilian vehicles will be restricted on the Jammu-Srinagar highway only on Sundays. The restrictions had been imposed on civilian traffic on the highway on Wednesdays and Sundays after the terror attack in Pulwama on February 14 in which 40 CRPF troopers were martyred. The curbs were aimed at securing the passage of convoys of security forces on the highway.
An order issued by the state Home Department said: "In consequence of the reviews undertaken on real time basis with regard to the regulation of civilian vehicular movement, it is hereby ordered that henceforth the restriction on civilian traffic between Srinagar and Udhampur on national highway-44 would be for only one day in a week-Sunday."
Political parties, traders, professionals and civil society members had vehemently opposed the imposition of restrictions on the highway as they said it adversely impacted business and professional activities in the Kashmir Valley.
Meanwhile, a National Conference leader told Early Times that the party was planning to hit the streets against the highway ban and same was expected to garner more support from people including students and business fraternity members. "Now it looks like the issue cannot be raked up in any way as the restriction has been limited to mere one day now and there are chances that same too may be rolled back in very near future. The slogan of lifting of the highway ban seems to be a thing of past now. We were planning to corner the central government over the issue. Things are slipping out of our hands," says the leader.
A functionary of PDP too had a similar view on the issue. The party had in the past asked people to defy the highway ban and had termed it bizarre and undemocratic. Now when the ban seems to be in its final stage, the party is trying to invent some other issues for the polls of state assembly which are likely to be held in November this year.
A PDP leader said on the condition of anonymity that the highway ban was an issue which the party was planning to cash during the poll rallies. However, according to him, it looks like the central government is in no mood to give this issue to the regional political groups of Kashmir on a platter. |
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