Srinagar: “For Viksit Bharat and rapid growth we must maintain ecological integrity and economic integrity,” Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said today. Securing the biodiversity should become the national mission and all sections of society must work together for protection, restoration and regeneration of natural resources. He was speaking at the award ceremony, ‘Pride of J&K’, Organised by Network 18 Group at Srinagar. The award honored stalwarts and champions of Jammu Kashmir who shaped the region’s development and always stood as pillars of hope in times of disaster.
The Lieutenant Governor felicitated the Army, NDRF, SDRF, J&K Police personnel, NGOs and Civil Administration officials for their exceptional and selfless service during the recent natural catastrophe in J&K UT.
These heroes offered hope and aid in the face of destruction and Network 18’s ‘Pride of J&K’ Award recognised their selfless act in rescue and relief and their conspicuous courage under extremely dangerous circumstances, the Lieutenant Governor said.
He said the Network 18’s initiative will motivate citizens to actively engage in community development.
The Lieutenant Governor said the Government of India, under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, is firmly committed to speedily revive Jammu and Kashmir’s development momentum and resuming normal life.
He called upon the citizens to support the police force and army personnel in the fight against terrorism and separatism.
“The ecosystem of separatist elements is now breathing its last. Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and all security agencies have been given free hand to decisively crush the terrorists and their sympathisers,” the Lieutenant Governor said.
Asserting that the situation has improved a lot in J-K, Sinha said street violence and stone pelting have become a thing of past now.
“Schools, colleges and business are functioning like the other parts of the country. No top commander of any major terror outfit is alive now. There has only been a single local recruitment into terror ranks so far this year,” he said.
Referring to Pakistan’s support to terror activities, the J-K LG said while there are several parameters on which success has been achieved, “unfortunately we have a neighbour who is always up to some mischief”.
“Rather than focussing on building the country after the partition, Pakistan attacked the country, it attacked J-K right after the partition. They fought four direct wars and lost. They have understood that they cannot win a direct war with India. So, they are indulging in proxy war by radicalising people,” he said.
Pointing out to the human cost of the violence, Sinha said over 40000 people have lost their lives to terrorism.
“How long will this continue? While it is the duty of the government and the forces to stop this, it is the responsibility of the people as well. So, the people should come forward to stop this,” he added.
Without naming anyone, Sinha said some people make statements similar to the terror outfit ‘The Resistance Front (TRF)’.
“When narratives are created like this, it causes huge damages. If the same thing is being said in the TRF’s social media post that we say in our statements, then it surely is dangerous,” he said.
Brajesh Kumar Singh, Group Editor-Convergence, Network 18 Group, editors and members of Network 18 Group; senior officials of Army, Civil and Police administration, representatives of various NGOs and prominent citizens from different walks of life attended the felicitation ceremony.