Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 24: Demanding security and empowerment, All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) began 72-hour long hunger strike, here today.
General secretary of AJKPC, Anil Sharma, Sarpanch Raj Kumar and spokesman of AJKPC Ghulam Hassan Panzoo are sitting on the hunger strike while other leaders and members of the organization are accompanying them.
“With this hunger strike we want to make it clear that we are here for democracy but New Delhi never wanted to get the democracy flourished in this State that is why it has not taken any step to protect the Panchayat leaders”, said Anil Sharma and Ghulam Hassan Panzoo before sitting on hunger strike.
“We took this extreme decision after using all other efforts, from Jammu Kashmir to Delhi to save the democracy in the State of Jammu and Kashmir but neither State nor Central Government took any step to secure the Panchayat leaders,” they added.
Both Sharma and Punzoo said that this was the shame for the system that they were forced to sit on hunger strike for democracy in the country which itself claims world’s largest democracy. “It is very much astonishing that Government spends crores of rupees on the security of separatist leaders but it has no security for Panchayat leaders. We demand implementation of 73rd amendment in the State, which is the only way to empower the Panchayats”, said Anil Sharma.