Military needs will always have to be subservient to civilian needs: Sajad Lone

Srinagar, April 04: Terming the government’s decision to restrict vehicular movement on Baramulla- Srinagar- Jammu highway as undemocratic and anti-people move, Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone on Wednesday said such measures would trigger humanitarian crisis in Kashmir.
Addressing a series of election meetings in Lolab Assembly segment, Lone said the State Government should not carve a militaristic identity for itself and that military needs will always have to remain subservient to civilian needs”.
“At a time when the state is gripped with an extended sense of alienation and persecution, these measures will further exacerbate the situation. It has made a mockery of civil liberties and will have a long-term impact,” Lone said.
He said the highway serves as the main communication artery of the state linking it with rest of the country imposing restrictions on it will severe this link not just physically but emotionally too.
“Such a step has definitely sent out the wrong message and will create unnecessary inconvenience which will harm both the interests of the government and the people alike,” he said.
He said it was imperative that people exercise their right to vote with extreme caution, making sure that they chose the right person, who will remain answerable and accountable to them. “We have to break the deliberate cycle of perpetual disempowerment crafted by the dynasts which remains a key tool of manipulating the common man and keeping them enslaved to the dynast whims,” he said.
He said these elections offer yet another opportunity of empowering ourselves and making sure those elements that have been tried, tested and failed for the past many decades are not allowed to take us for a ride again.
“The common man has to break this cycle working to the advantage of the dynasts at the cost of common man,” he said.