Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's Convocation Address at the Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences

"Today is an important day for me. I have waited long to come to Jammu and Kashmir and I am so happy to be here just days after we have celebrated Id and Deepavali. If Deepavali is the festival of light and the celebration of prosperity, Ramzan is the month of peace, prayer and brotherhood . Jammu and Kashmir need all these in full measure - light, prosperity, peace, prayer and brotherhood. I am particularly pleased to be among students, the youth of Jammu and Kashmir, in whose lifetime I am sure this proud State will see great prosperity and lasting peace.

It is always for me a great pleasure to visit a University as I am basically myself a teacher, and especially an institution as beautiful as this. I still feel completely at home amongst academics, although I may seem, at the moment, to be far removed from the world of academia.

It is a joy to meet young scholars and students. You have embarked on a journey that will lead to the exploration of new ideas and many of you will chart fresh intellectual frontiers. The road to real scholarship is often arduous, but it is a deeply fulfilling one. You are indeed fortunate to have such a scenic campus. With the majestic Dal Lake and the magnificent chinars, there are few universities in the world that can claim to be located in such magical surroundings, or be as conducive to the development of the highest intellectual ideals.

As Prime Minister, this is my first Convocation Address and I am delighted that I am speaking to a community of doctors and health specialists. Health care is one of the cornerstones of the programme of policy action outlined in the National Common Minimum Programme. It is now widely recognized that the two areas where we have lagged behind and where urgent and massive intervention is required are education and health. The people of India deserve a world class educational system and the best yet affordable health care.

Our performance in the area of human development lags behind many newly industrializing economies. It is my sincere hope and commitment that our Government will make a difference in these two areas. We have strengthened the mid-day meals programme and are launching a rural health care mission to deal with the challenge of low levels of literacy and health care at the village level. However, the educational and health care system need urgent and wide-ranging reform at all levels. I have made this an area of urgent priority for my Government and have urged the Ministry Health and Family Welfare to come up with practical ideas for improving the health status of our people.

Ours has always been a knowledge society where ideas have had a powerful appeal. However, for us to build a knowledge economy we must invest in the education and health of our people. An illiterate and poor people are a social and economic liability, while an educated and healthy people are a nation's asset. I want medical universities and institutions to throw up new ideas on how we can build a relevant and affordable health care system in the country. You doctors and educationists must examine how best we can use the funds available to both widen the scope and quality of medical education and the range and reach of an affordable health care delivery system.

Today, I want to speak in particular to the young men and women of Kashmir and address a subject that concerns us all: the future of Kashmir. I have come here not to lecture, but to seek your partnership in the building of a Naya Kashmir.

You are all the real stakeholders in the future of Kashmir, and it is only through your enthusiastic participation that a 'new' Kashmir can truly be built. Several decades ago, a bold vision of Naya Kashmir had been spelt out. The time has come to put forward a new blueprint, a fresh vision for Kashmir and for the Kashmiri people, free from the fear of war, want and exploitation.

The Kashmiri people have gone through a traumatic experience over much of the last decade and a half. Nearly every family has witnessed a tragedy, hundreds have been killed or injured and thousands have been displaced. Women and children have been the worst sufferers. My heart goes out to those innocent mothers and sisters, sons and daughters. I share your grief and understand how difficult it often can be to believe that a better future lies ahead. But I have a dream and a firm belief that working together we can build a new Kashmir, which can become - once again - a symbol of peace, prosperity and cultural pluralism.

I understand that all of you have suffered and are continuing to be scarred by the violence. We are working on our neighbour to put a permanent end to this mindless violence. If the violence ends, the security presence will be unnecessary. I have already issued instructions to reduce the number of troops deployed in the State. If conditions improve and if the incidence of infiltration and of violence remains under control it will make it easier for me to seek a further reduction of troops.

Our security forces have been deployed to protect the life and property of law abiding citizens. They have been performing this task under very difficult conditions. The honour and dignity of our security forces oblige us to deal firmly with all violations of human rights of citizens. Our Government remains committed to this ideal. I am firmly committed to peace, to a return to normalcy and to the assurance of a life of dignity and self respect for the people of Kashmir.

When I met President Musharraf of Pakistan last month, I impressed on him the need for our two countries to work together to create the conditions for sustainable peace in South Asia. Our Government is committed to a purposeful dialogue with Pakistan to resolve all outstanding issues. Our only condition is that, as agreed to by Pakistan, territory under control of Pakistan should not be used to promote cross border terrorism directed against us. Our Government will work earnestly with the State Government and other political parties to improve the quality of governance to make it transparent, people friendly and corruption free.

Our Government is also committed to an unconditional dialogue with anyone and everyone in the State who abjures violence. This dialogue should be and will be carried forward. But the task of reconstructing Kashmir cannot wait until these dialogues arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. We cannot afford this luxury. The challenge is to begin peace building in Kashmir now, even while there may be forces that do not share our vision and actively seek to undermine it. I want the journey of development to begin here and now in Kashmir.

Even as we discuss the improvement of the processes of governance, the present economic imperative is clear. Kashmir needs more jobs, Kashmir needs better connectivity, Kashmir needs tourists, Kashmir needs credit and agro industries, Kashmir needs power and roads. Kashmir's women and children need a vastly improved system of education and health care and the empowerment that comes with these. For us to ensure all this faster, better, Kashmir needs peace. Come join me and support me so that we can together work to restore peace, prosperity and brotherhood to Kashmir.

Thinking about the future of Kashmir, I am inspired by Rabindranath Tagore's well known lines:

"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free; where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever widening thought and action.

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake".

To create a society that matches up to this 'heaven of freedom' is not easy. It requires, as its base, upright men and women who are willing to commit themselves selflessly to this goal. Those who are willing to give up negative emotions, and shed the hopelessness and pessimism of the past. I know that in Kashmir we have many such people. They need to be empowered.

Empowering the abundantly talented young men and women of this State must, therefore, surely be our first priority. I am particularly concerned about the educational and social status of women, across the entire sub-continent and not just in Kashmir. But Kashmir can show the way by focusing immediate attention on the education and empowerment of women. We must improve the human development profile of Jammu and Kashmir's people as a whole.

Our respected President has, on many occasions, emphasised the need to create a real 'knowledge economy.' We need to lay the foundations of precisely such an economy in the State through the dynamism of you all. And as a partner, I commit myself and my Government to creating institutions of excellence in the State, which can channelise the creativity and energy of the youth of Kashmir. We will together build and strengthen the cadre of extraordinarily skilled men and women who are dedicated to a vision of peaceful and prosperous Kashmir. That alone is a guarantee for sustainable peace in Kashmir.

I am fully aware of the great achievements of the men and women of Kashmir an all spheres: from the arts to the science. I count among my friends many from these parts who have made a name for themselves at home in India and abroad. Despite many odds, they have carved out a niche for themselves in the rest of India and many parts of the world. But the educational and skill-development institutions in the State have greatly been affected by the events over the last fifteen years. Schools have been burnt, teachers have been threatened and many have just left.

During the last two years, I understand, considerable progress has been made. The Kashmir University has been accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council and given a five star rating. The neighbouring Regional Engineering College is now the National Institute of Technology. Kashmir University is developing additional compuses in North and South Kashmir. The University of Jammu is seeking ISO certification. All this is satisfying, but much, much more needs to be done.

We need to create first-rate educational institutions all over the State. We need, as I said, to invest in the human resources of Kashmir. We will assist the State Government in improving the quality of primary and secondary education, help it to create post-school vocational institutions that can offer world-class training and skill development, and ensure that institutions of higher learning can provide the facilities for the best teaching and research in science and technology, in the arts and humanities, and in the social sciences.

Many Kashmiri young men have felt alienated because of lack of employment opportunities in the State. The Government cannot be the only source of employment; in fact the necessity is to reduce the size of the Government, not to enlarge it. A partnership for rebuilding Kashmir can only work once we include these unemployed men in our task of peace building. Many of them are highly trained and educated. We need to create new opportunities for them. To give just one example, Kashmir is ideal for outsourcing of services, particularly in the IT sector.

I assure you that I will seek to persuade the top private companies, especially in the IT sector, to make Kashmir a priority destination. We will strengthen the Software Technology Park in Srinagar and also create re-training centres for those whose skills need upgradation.

The tourism sector has traditionally been a source of employment. Tourism has flourished as much because of the breathtaking beauty of this land as because of the warmth and hospitality of the Kashmiri people. Fortunately, the tourist season this year has gone off well. Once there is a permanent end to the violence, the State will surely become one of the most attractive international destinations for tourists. Even now there is the possibility of promoting 'adventure' and 'pilgrimage' tourism more aggressively and improving the infrastructure. We remain committed to doing this.

But let me also urge you to make use of the wealth of economic opportunities that exist in the rest of India. Some of you are already doing this. India is changing and changing rapidly. There is a new energy, a new wave of entrepreneurship, which has been unleashed.

Become part of this process. By doing so you will carry forward the vision of 'peace building' in Kashmir into the rest of India. As I have said once before, I have come today to Kashmir not with a 'package' but with a 'plan'. A Plan to reconstruct the economy, reform the Government, regenerate entrepreneurship, revitalise the institutions of civil society and redefine the political paradigm and context in the sub-continent.

To help the State Government and guide the central Government in implementing an integrated plan of long term development of Jammu and Kashmir, I will be constituting a High-Powered Advisory Council on Economic Development of Jammu and Kashmir. This Council will help to evolve an integrated and holistic view of Jammu and Kashmir's long-term economic and social development. It will also help the State Government identify sources of finance locally, nationally and globally to fund this process of planned development of the State.

The culture and value system of Kashmir has always been a source of its strength. I know that this land of Sheikh Nurudin Nurani and Lal Ded can never succumb to extremism and fanaticism. Through all these years the Kashmiris, despite many onslaughts, have kept alive their culture of tolerance and pluralism. We need to now, in partnership, further strengthen Kashmir's civil society, its fabulous traditional arts and crafts and the variety of music and dance that have enriched this beautiful valley. I am asking the State Government to put forward a proposal for setting up a Centre for Art and Culture. This institution will not just celebrate the State's rich diversity, but open to the world the richness of Kashmir's heritage.

My young friends, India is today on the cusp of a new wave of development. The world recognises that the 21st Century will be an Asian Century and that India and China will be the two Great Asian Nations and World Powers of the 21st century. Our destiny beckons us.

There is new ray of hope for an ancient civilisational nation that ours is. It is our good fortune that our forefathers helped build here in this sub-continent a truly multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-ethnic nation on the principles of parliamentary democracy, secularism and the rule of law. The Indian sub-continent consisting of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka is on the threshold of a new awakening to realise its vast latent development potential. All of us have an obligation to make the future happen.

I am convinced that Kashmir will find peace and prosperity within this framework of pluralism and of unity in diversity. I come with the assurance that Kashmir is safe in our hearts and in our minds and should, therefore, feel safe in our secular, plural and democratic framework. You, the young men and women of Kashmir, have an enormous stake in the collective future of our diverse sub-continent. India is many things to many people, but it is home for us all - the land of our birth, of our dreams and our destiny. Come join me in this new adventure of building a new India and a new Kashmir."