BJP, Congress must come clear on State Subject laws: Rana

Devender Singh Rana chairing a meeting of NC leaders at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan Jammu on Saturday.
Devender Singh Rana chairing a meeting of NC leaders at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan Jammu on Saturday.

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 29: National Conference Provincial president Devender Singh Rana today asked the BJP and Congress to clear stand on the State Subject laws, saying the two parties cannot play hide and seek or sit on both sides of the fence on this important and sensitive issue.
“BJP and Congress sing different tones at different places on the State Subject laws as per their political exigencies and the ambiguity in their stand has been mainly responsible for the unprecedented political uncertainty in Jammu and Kashmir”, Rana said while addressing senior party colleagues of Poonch, Rajouri and Gool Arnas areas of the Jammu Province at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan here this afternoon.
He blamed Congress and BJP for bringing the State to such a passé where confusion and chaos has overtaken the genuine political process and aspirations. “The two parties seem to be in league with each other to marginalize the genuine political forces in a bid to weaken the distinct status of Jammu and Kashmir and identity of its people,” he said, adding that National Conference will no more allow these machinations to succeed, come what may.
He reiterated that any attempt of diluting or repealing state subject laws will be instrumental in squeezing employment opportunities for enterprising youth by paving way for the youth of the other States to usurp their jobs, making admissions in the professional academic courses fiercely competitive and difficult, depriving them of the concessions in recruitment in the security forces, denying scholarships and other financial assistance to students and other categories of people.
Rana said the attempts of tinkering with the State Subject law is a matter of grave concern for the people of Jammu in particular, as it is a shield to unique Dogra culture and identity besides their economic interests. He also asked the two national parties to spell out their stand on fake state subjects, who were posing a grave threat to identity, economy and resources of the Jammu Province.
During the meeting, NC senior leaders discussed the organizational matters and took several decisions with regard to further intensifying the public outreach of the party at various levels.
Those present in the meeting, included Rattan Lal Gupta, Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari, Javeed Ahmed Rana, Rachpal Singh and others.