Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 19: BJP leader and former legislator Devender Singh Rana today said that time has come to strive unitedly for realizing the suppressed aspirations of the Jammu region and to end the era of despondency and discrimination.
“Decades of hopelessness has taken toll of the psyche of region, an abode of the people belonging to divergent faiths, ethnicities and cultures”, Rana said at a civic reception hosted by Jyoti Devi, JMC Corporators Ward 53 at Trikuta Nagar to felicitate Surjeet Singh Slathia, Devender Singh Rana, Dharamveer Singh Jamwal, Y V Sharma and others, who joined the BJP recently.
He regretted that despite being assimilative and inclusive in character, the Jammu region has always been pushed to the wall due to political exigencies, which generally remained focused towards empowerment of a particular section of the population. Seeking safeguard to its rights does not mean usurping the legitimate rights and aspirations of other regions or sub-regions, which has been a norm for decades. This anomaly should be superseded by a mechanism to guarantee equal role and opportunities to everyone, irrespective of religion, region or caste, in all spheres, economic or political. The monopoly of a particular region or section of population is not only against the democratic spirit but also in violation of fundamental rights, he added.
Rana pitched for a robust and forward looking concept of political empowerment wherein the people have equal and participatory role in the decision making and governance. He reiterated that no region, sub-region or section of people should have hegemony over others. He called for shunning the regressive path of appeasement to some at the cost of discrimination to many.
Speaking at the civic reception, BJP Pradesh Vice President Surjeet Singh Slathia also called upon the people to stand for their rights and work towards safeguarding the interests of the Jammu region. He said Jammu and Kashmir has to flourish as a single entity with opportunities of development and progress to all.
He called for strengthening the bonds of amity and brotherhood, saying harmony between various segments of society is interlinked to justice for all and discrimination to none.
Former Mayor Dharamveer Singh Jamwal also addressed the civic reception and urged the people to work towards betterment of Jammu and Kashmir. This can be achieved when unity, peace and tranquillity will be maintained, he added.
While speaking on the occasion, Y V Sharma called for assuaging the urges of all the region, saying unity in diversity has been strength of this part of the country.
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