Srinagar, January 21: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) legislator Waheed Parra on Wednesday highlighted that cancer has claimed far more lives in Jammu and Kashmir than decades of conflict, calling it a major public health and governance crisis requiring urgent government action.
In a social media post, Parra revealed that around 67,000 people had died of cancer in the past five years, a figure comparable to the number of deaths attributed to conflict over the last three decades. “Cancer is killing 300 times more people than conflict in J&K,” he said.
Parra, who represents Pulwama in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, noted that families—especially those from poorer backgrounds—are being forced to sell land and other assets to seek treatment outside the region due to the burden on local hospitals and limited treatment capacity.
“The biggest battles are often the ones we don’t see,” Parra added, urging the government to treat the issue as both a health emergency and a governance failure.
Tagging Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in his post, Parra stressed that the administration must take immediate steps to strengthen cancer care infrastructure within Jammu and Kashmir to prevent avoidable deaths and financial distress among patients’ families. (Agencies)
