Mehbooba Mufti Demands Resumption Of LoC Trade Suspended By BJP Govt

Addressing a presser in Srinagar, Peoples Democratic Party president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti hit out at the BJP led NDA government at the Centre she said had put hundreds of traders associated with it into difficulty and left them jobless, reports ETV Bharat's Mir Farhat.

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): Peoples Democratic Party president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday urged the BJP-led government to resume the cross LoC trade and stop raiding the traders who were associated with this barter business.

The LoC trade which was started between India and Pakistan through Uri-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalkote in 2005 as a confidence building measure between India and Pakistan by the then NDA government.

However the trade was closed after the BJP came into power in 2014 and the ties between India and Pakistan turned completely hostile after the Pulwama suicide attacks.

Hundreds of traders in Jammu and Kashmir were affiliated with the trade on LoC and now their business is shut after the trade was closed.

"Closing of LoC trade has put hundreds of traders associated with it into difficulty and left them jobless. It was the only good positive thing that the struggle of people of Jammu and Kashmir had yielded," Mehbooba told reporters in a press conference in Srinagar.

She said that despite closure of the trade, the traders are being demanded tax. "And now their houses being raided, though the trade was purely done through barter system," she said.

The former chief minister said that she has written a letter to the Home Minister Amit Shah to resume the trade and stop raiding the traders for their unpaid income tax.

"It was a big confidence building measure (CBM) in last 70 years in Jammu and Kashmir. I have requested the home minister to intervene into the matter. I fear that the income tax department will seize their properties which is not acceptable to us. If their properties are seized their families will come on roads," she said.

"The trade should be resumed on both the routes. Banking and communication system should be put in place so that the trade remains in transparency," she said.