BASOHLI, Apr 15 : Union Minister and BJP Candidate for Udhampur-Doda-Kathua Lok Sabha constituency Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that Section 254 C pertaining to Land viz-a-viz displaced persons from Pak Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK) is already under government review and Congress party and its allies, with nothing to claim to their credit, are desperately trying to make an issue out of non-issue and confuse the masses on the eve of election.
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Speaking at a mammoth public rally in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh here and later addressing a series of public meetings at different locations including Govindsar, Basantpur etc., Dr Jitendra Singh said, there should be absolutely no apprehension or misgiving in this regard, particularly when government has been reiterating in the past also that this Section is under review. Citing evidence, he said, it was only about six months back, the delegation of PoJK persons met the then Chief Secretary J&K Arun Kumar Mehta who is on record having stated and a report was published in all the newspapers quoting Chief Secretary Metha that the concerns expressed by the PoJK displaced persons were under consideration and the doubts regarding Section 254(C) will be cleared after the matter is reviewed. He said, most of the PoJK representatives and leaders meeting the government officials from time to time have been candidly conveyed this and this is also the stand of the central government headed by Prime Minister Narenda Modi and the Home Ministry headed by Amit Shah and yet, certain elements are trying to create confusion but their mischievous design will not succeed.
Dr. Jitendra Singh recalled that it was after 2014 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi that a Rs. 150 Crore bridge was constructed at Keerian-Gandyal just to cater to about two thousand population out of which around one thousand are PoJK displaced persons. The question is why the earlier governments headed by Congress did not address this demand, possibly because they did not find much of a vote bank stake here. But under the Modi government, we decided to fulfil the lapses of the past and meet every genuine demand of every section of society including the PoJK displaced persons regardless of vote bank consideration, he said.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said, it hardly needs to be stated or proved because in the last 10 years, the government headed by Prime Minister Modi has walked extra mile to support all the genuine demands of each section of displaced persons, be it the West Pakistan Refugees or PoJK displaced persons or the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community. He said, on the other hand the question is to be answered by the Congress and its allies who ruled over Jammu & Kashmir and at the Centre for more than a half of century but deliberately ignored all these sections of displaced communities because they did not find their vote bank among them.
Dr. Jitendra Singh recalled that it was the government headed by Prime Minister Modi, which gave the Citizenship rights to refugees from Pakistan nearly 70 years after they had settled in Jammu & Kashmir. Even though in today’s time, citizens moving to other countries also get their citizenship rights after a certain number of years and one of the citizens from India has already become Prime Minister of UK. Not only this, he said, even from among the West Pakistan refugees, India got two Prime Ministers namely Inder Kumar Gujral and Dr. Manmohan Singh but ironically if these two great men had chosen to settle in Jammu & Kashmir, they too might have been subject to same hardship as their counterpart here and it was only Prime Minister Modi who gave them equal rights, equal platforms and equal opportunities as any other citizens of India.
Similarly, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, as far as the displaced persons from PoJK is concerned, it is for the first time that the Modi government decided upon a plan to provide them compensation and financial aid whereas the earlier governments continuously ignored them despite their repeated requests. He said, not only the displaced PoJK persons living in Jammu & Kashmir but those living outside J&K are also getting their demands and requirements addressed because of a very sensitive and liberal approach adopted by the government under the instructions of Prime Minister Modi.
Even for Kashmiri Pandits, said Dr. Jitendra Singh, during 1990s, when BJP was not in power at the Centre, all kind of assistance including reservation was sought to be provided in some of those States where BJP was in power or shared power and after the Modi government came in 2014, not only the employment packages for them was included but provisions were also made for their safe living in the valley while taking up job there.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said, what has happened in the last 10 years did not happen in the earlier 60 years, whether in the form of the enormous development that has taken place or the redressal of the long standing grievances.
Allying all fears, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, it is only the Modi government under whom every section of society is safe regardless of caste, creed and religion or background and justice is being provided to all. He said, the Congress Party in its campaign is making promises to do what it could not do during 60 years, when it had the free hand to do everything. He said, if they could not do it in 60 years, how could one trust them to do it again particularly when everyone knows that they are not going to come to power either at the Centre or in Jammu & Kashmir.
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