Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 2: Accusing the BJP of having played a second fiddle to PDP on varied issues including general governance, development, security and policy matters during its more than three year rule, NPP chairman and former Minister Harsh Dev Singh said that the aspirations of the people of Jammu region had not only been disregarded but pushed into the oblivion.
He said that with entire focus of both union as well as State Govt on Kashmir centric issues, the people of the Dogra land were taken for granted and marginalized. He said that not only the “Agenda of Alliance” ignored Jammu but the Central Govt too seemed to be inclined towards Kashmir with hardly any initiative taken for addressing the age old bias and prejudice against this region. He was addressing public meeting in Rajpura Mangotrian in Ward No. 29 of JMC today.
“While thousands of stone-pelters were released and amnesty given to several other separatist leaders in the name of political prisoners, the nationalist projects of Sainik Colony and KP township schemes were summarily rejected and shelved under pressure of anti-national and separatist forces,” Harsh Dev said adding that it was during BJP rule that Asia Andrabi was featured amongst ‘Women Achievers’ of the country in an exhibition organized by Social Welfare Deptt and her photograph withdrawn only after the episode sparked outrage amongst the masses.
The most outrageous aspect of the saffron rule in J&K has been the humiliation of armed forces which shall continue to agitate the minds of nationalist even after the exit of BJP, Singh remarked.
Flaying the BJP for its submissive posturing and lame duck approach, Mr Singh said that not a single promise made by it during elections had been honoured or even any initiative taken to fulfil the same. He said that discrimination in recruitments particularly by PSC and SSB, delimitation of Assembly constituencies, deportation of Rohingyas, Artificial Tawi Lake project, Dogri Satellite channel for Jammu etc were some of the issues which were persistently being raked up even by BJP workers with no takers for the same in their own govt.
Calling upon the people to strengthen Jammu basted Panthers Party, Singh said that lame BJP on crutches could never protect the interests of people of Jammu.
Prominent among these who addressed the meetings included Manju Singh, Shalini Sharma, Jitendra Sharma, Amar Nath, Rakesh Sharma, Bal Krishan and others.