Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 26: The Congress today launched an all out offensive against BJP and Centre Govt over the issue of delay in granting Statehood and also impressed upon the Centre Govt to take along the newly elected Govt for defeating terrorism.
Senior party leaders, working president Raman Bhalla, Mula Ram, Ravinder Sharma, Jahangir Mir, Yogesh Sawhney, Ved Mahajan and others in a joint press statement said that BJP insulted Maharaja and Dogra rulers by downgrading the Dogra State and reducing it to a UT and not restoring the State after more than five years.
Addressing a press conference at PCC office today, these senior leaders questioned BJP and Centre Govt for the delay in the announcement of Statehood despite repeated commitments and advertisements in the media. “The real tribute to Maharaja Hari Singh would be to restore full Statehood immediately,” they said after paying homage to the great ruler.
They said Congress would intensify its struggle to seek early restoration of Statehood including adopting agitational mode if the demand is not fulfilled at the earliest.
The party also recalled the sacrifices of all those heroes including Brigadier Rajinder Singh who repulsed the attack of the Pakistani raiders till the Indian Army arrived here. All those who laid down their lives and sacrificed during the raiders attack and for the accession of J&K with India were also remembered. The role of the then leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru and Sheikh Mohd Abdullah in rejecting the two nation theory of Mohd Ali Jinnah also needs to be recalled on this day, they said. Click here to watch video
Stating further, Sharma said that Govt should deal militancy with a holistic approach and the Centre should take on board the elected Govt to effectively counter and defeat terrorism. He said that terrorism is a challenge and the terrorists have adopted an approach of selective targeted attacks in Kashmir valley and Jammu region for the past quite some time, which had escalated in Jammu region in the recent past.
Condemning strongly the recent attacks, the Congress leaders said that more effective counter insurgency strategy should be evolved by the Centre and UT Govt to deal with the challenge. The party expressed sympathy with the families of the victims and asked the Govt to take care of the victim’s families.
The PCC president Tariq Hameed Karra today visited the residence of martyred Shashi Abrol in Jammu today along with Yogesh Sawhney, Th. Manmohan Singh, TS Tony, Neeraj Gupta to console the family.
The Congress leaders also said that the priorities of the party and the coalition Govt are Statehood, unemployment and the restoration of Darbar Move to give relief to the common people who are expecting people friendly initiatives from the elected Government.
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