SRINAGAR: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir Employees Movement has welcomed the announcement of ceasefire on the Line of Control by India and Pakistan.
The spokesman for Employees Movement in a statement issued in Srinagar said that India has the responsibility to further make the environment conducive to give Kashmiris their inalienable right to self-determination. He said that the people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir have been giving unprecedented sacrifices for more than seven decades to achieve their birthright, and ceasefire along the LOC was an important development but without addressing the real and fundamental Kashmir issue, things could not move forward.
He said that India was constantly trying to mislead the international community about the ground situation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The spokesman said that unless the Kashmir issue was resolved in accordance with the UN resolutions, peace and stability could not be established in the region and Pak-India relations could not be improved on a sustainable basis.
On the other hand, in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, in a bid to deprive the Kashmiri people of the world’s most costly spice by weight, Saffron, the Modi-led fascist Indian government has decided to shelve 13-years old International Trade Centre (ITC) project in Sempora area of Pampore, known for Saffron production, and use the designated 300 kanals of land for an IT project.
The ITC project was approved in 2007. “Rs 29 crore was earmarked for the project and, as far as my information, Rs 5 crore had been released. But the land lay vacant with only a boundary wall constructed around it in all these years,” a local newspaper said. The newspaper said that the scheme was shelved and a new scheme was launched in its place, with the name of Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme.
The Industries and Commerce Department has now taken over the land, which intends to create an Information Technology hub there. Saffron growers in Pampore expressed dejection when they came to know about the shelving of the ITC, for they had serious hopes pinned on the project. The ITC was a purported game changer as buyers from across the world were supposed to visit the place, where Kashmiri saffron growers and artisans would have showcased their products to garner attention in the international market.
