‘Some misguided youth pelt stones, some chisel them for development’
‘Youth should not ignore the invaluable tradition of Sufi culture of Kashmir’
Udhampur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the youth of Kashmir have two options in front of them, tourism and terrorism and they have to choose the latter for the state’s development.
Modi, after inaugurating the 9.2 kilometer long Chenani-Nashri tunnel, while addressing a rally in Udhampur said that ‘some misguided youth pelt stones and some chisel the same stones to build tunnels’.
PM also mentioned that the youth of Kashmir ‘should not ignore the invaluable tradition of the Sufi culture and if they do, they would lose the present and put their future into darkness.’
While invoking the Vajpayee doctrine of ‘Jamhooriyat (Democracy), Insaniyat (Humanity) and Kashmiriyat (Kashmirism), Modi said that the same ‘motto’ would be used to ‘take the state to new heights of development and no obstacle can stop us from doing so.’
“I want to tell the misguided youth of Kashmir valley, realize the power of a stone. On one hand, there are some misguided youth who pelt stones, on the other hand, there are youth from the same Kashmir who carve stones to build infrastructure,” Modi said.
Modi, in a veiled attack on Pakistan said that India wants to show the people of Kashmir on the other side and their ‘occupiers’ too that what kind of development we are doing here.
“I want to tell the misguided youth of Kashmir valley, realize the power of a stone. On one hand, there are some misguided youth who pelt stones, on the other hand, there are youth from the same Kashmir who carve stones to build infrastructure,” Modi said.
He added, “I want to tell the Kashmiri youth, there are two paths in front of you which can determine your future — one is tourism, the other is terrorism,” he said.
Modi also pointed out that the last 40 years of bloodshed has benefited no one. Had those years been used to promote tourism, the state would have been totally different.
“Over last 40 years, there has been lot of bloodshed. My own valley has been blood-soaked, my Kashmir’s beloved youth, my Hindustan’s beloved youth. Nobody has benefitted from this bloodshed,” said PM Modi.
He also informed that if this tunnel will change the life of the farmers and boost tourism, the government plans to construct 9 more tunnels.
PM also said that 90 percent of the workforce used in the construction of the tunnel was from the state and hailed the youth for turning it into reality.
“The money used in the construction has no doubt come from Government of India but there is also the scent of sweat of Kashmir’s youth in this tunnel, “said Modi.
