Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 24: General Category People’s Forum, Jammu and Bharat Lok Sevak Party (BLSP), Jammu Kashmir known as Aarakshan Virodhi Party jointly organized a function today to pay rich tributes to young martyrs (students) of anti-Mandal agitation of 1990.
The function presided over by Raj Kumar Banathia, Chairman of GCPF-Jammu, started with recitation of Gayatri Mantras by the participants. A two-minute silent prayer was observed in honour of the martyrs.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof Yash Paul Sanson said that the Forum along with BLSP is observing the day of 24th September as Samta Day. He said that the day is being celebrated by anti-Mandal organizations in the country. Sanson said that the best tributes which could be paid to young martyrs of anti-Mandal agitation would be to work with missionary zeal for ensuring equality, justice, dignity, liberty, equal rights and ending caste based discrimination.
Ram Pal Seth, president of BLSP, while paying tributes to martyrs, described them the real epitome of courage, justice, equality and dignity. He said the young martyrs of 1990 anti-Mandal agitation had exhibited courage against discrimination and commitment to awake the country against caste based discrimination.
He warned the political parties against playing vote-bank politics over caste. “The people of General category will not tolerate it any more. Many talented youth become victims of caste based discrimination and get frustrated every year. It is a shame for us,” he added.
Som Nath Sharma, general secretary of the Forum, while paying tributes to the martyrs, said that political class of India has been promoting casteism and ignoring poor, needy and deserving families. He said Reservation is a bane which has given birth to administration inefficiency and many other problems.