Srinagar, Feb 18: After the Kashmiris were attacked in different parts of the country, Awami Itihaad Party (AIP) President Er Rasheed on Monday have appealed the regional political parties to assure and include in their manifesto that they will ensure opening of new professional and technical colleges in the state in the private sector and will make the legal procedure for the same easier.

Quoting Rasheed, the spokesman said that while state already lacks good professional colleges and institutions, but the ongoing assault and harassment against Kashmiri students in other states have created more need for establishing such institutions in public and private sector.

Rasheed said that many local investors have been trying hard to get permission from the competent authority to establish various much-needed colleges in Kashmir valley but unfortunately bureaucracy has been creating barriers and thus not allowing education sector to flourish beyond a certain point. It is high time for all those regional political parties who are in the race of power to make sincere and concrete promises that they will not only allow investment in the education sector without creating hurdles but will also create a huge network of professional and technical colleges in every district and region of the state.

“Unless main political parties including NC and PDP do not promise to make the process of establishing these institutions time-bound and easy by making necessary amendments in the laws, the aim cannot be achieved,” the spokesman quoted Rashed as saying.

Meanwhile, Rasheed welcomed actor turned politician Kamal Hassan’s statement asking New Delhi to revisit its policies and resolve Kashmir dispute by holding a plebiscite so that peace returns in the entire sub-continent.  He said, “It is good to see credible voices speaking sense and understanding the significance of finding peaceful resolutions rather indulging in spreading venom against each other”.