No need of force to wrest PoK from Pak, people will join India after seeing development in J&K

Presenting his "roadmap" for India for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Wednesday said India can wrest this territory back from Pakistan without using any force, voicing confidence people there will "revolt" and join this country after seeing the planned development in the state.

Malik said this at a function here where he said that some ministers have been talking about taking back PoK from Pakistan by force. He, however, did not name anyone.

"I have been seeing for the past 10 to 15 days that many of our ministers, who do not get to talk on international matters, have been repeatedly talking about invading PoK, taking it back etc. My belief is that if PoK is the next target, we can take it on the basis on the development of Jammu and Kashmir.

"If we can give love and respect to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and secure the future of their children, bring development and prosperity, I can guarantee that within a year or so there will be a revolt in PoK and you will get it without a confrontation ... the residents of PoK will on their own say that they want to come this side. This is my roadmap for PoK," the governor said.

Malik urged the countrymen to treat people from Kashmir with love and respect and said officers have been placed in every state to help Kashmiri students.

"There are 22,000 Kashmiri students studying in different states of the country and they should be treated with love. People of Kashmir should be treated with love and respect," he added.

Referring to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) registering cases to probe the alleged irregularities in the 'Roshni' scheme, he said it apparently turned out to be a Rs 25,000 crore scam.

"The implementation of the scheme has been such that it has proved to be a Rs 25,000 crore scam ... When I came here, the first thing I did was to end the Roshni scheme and we handed the Roshni cases to the ACB for investigation," he said.

The Jammu and Kashmir government in 1996 launched the scheme to vest land ownership rights on people who were occupying state land by paying a part of its assessed value towards the public exchequer. The aim of the scheme was to regularise illegal occupants while generating funds for construction of power projects in the state.

Malik said the government has taken steps to ensure uninterrupted power supply to Jammu and Srinagar cities from this winter.

The governor thanked Union Power Minister R K Singh, who was also present in the function, for his generous support to the power sector in the state.

"At my request, he (Singh) has reduced the time for laying of Leh-Nubra transmission line from three years to 18 months," he added.

The governor and the Union minister inaugurated 15 power projects in Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh and laid the foundation stone for another 20 projects in these regions of the state that was bifurcated into two union territories on August 5.

Singh, in his address, stressed that the power supply in this winter will be much better than in the past.

"We will spend time in Jammu in December and January to experience and observe the situation ... our goal is to provide 24 hours electricity supply to all the citizens of the country, including Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh," he said.

Singh said the regions have the potential to generate enough hydel power, not only be self-sufficient but also to export it to other states.

"This will enhance the per capita income of the state like it did in Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand," he added.