| Foundation Stone of Mughal Road vanishes into thin air | | Names of Mufti, Azad Vanished | | NC, PDP lock horns
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Oct 25: The foundation stone laid by the former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, on the historical 'Mughal Road' has been knocked out at Bafliaz in Poonch district, apparently to give the credit to National Conference (NC) that claims that the work on the road was started by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1980.
The foundation stone of the prestigious and shortest link (85 km) between Kashmir and Jammu regions was laid by the then Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on 1st October 2005, along with Ghulam Nabi Azad, who succeeded him after a month (November 2005). But now the Stone has been destroyed and the marble plate with the Names of Mufti and Azad written on it has vanished.
The locals alleged that it has been destroyed by National Conference people to claim the credit of this prestigious road.
Mohd. Bashir, 55, a shopkeeper at Bafliaz said, "This Government is trying to wipe off the name of Mufti and his Government from the Mughal Road, but the work on it was started by PDP led Government in 2005."
"They (NC led Coalition ) have done nothing during their five year tenure in this area, but trying to get political mileage from the work started by the previous Government," he added.
"It was broken by some unknown people, but the way it has been broken it seems like the intention is to wipe out the name of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Ghulam Nabi Azad," said Qamir Din, a farmer at Bafliaz.
"Previous Government has done a lot for this region, like they have started the Mughal Road project, Poonch-Rawlakot Bus service was started and Baba Ghulam Shah University was also set up at Rajouri. Now this Government is trying to claim for the work done by previous Government," he added.
Naeem Akhtar, spokesperson of PDP said, "It should not have happened. This is very unfortunate that our politics has been degraded to this level, that someone is trying to wipe the name of the former Chief Minister, who laid the foundation stone of this prestigious road. But I think it won't affect us, because everyone knows, who made it (Mughal Road project) happen in the state," he added.
Mustafa Kamaal, Additional General Secretary, NC said, "This project was started in 1980, when Sheikh sahib was Chief Minister, he had already laid the foundation stone, so how can they (Mufti Government) lay another foundation stone on the same project."
When Mufti laid the foundation stone, 15km road from Bafliaz and 20km from Kashmir was completed, I think the people can understand themselves, who is trying to grab the credit of this road," he added.
Congress MLC, Jugal Kishore Sharma said, "whosoever has destroyed it, it is wrong, it should not have been done."
The Mughal Road project was taken up in late '70s without any significant work being done, the construction of road under Mughal Road project was started in October 2005 and the project was handed over to Hindustan Construction Company (HCC).
Originally, the idea of constructing the Mughal road, the route that Mughal emperors used to take to travel to Kashmir, was that of Syed Mir Qasim, late Chief Minister. |
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