Unemployment, price hike big issues BJP avoiding to face
Democracy in country currently under attack
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Jan 23: Senior AICC leader and Member Parliament, Rahul Gandhi today said that the demand for Statehood is Jammu and Kashmir’s biggest issue and the Congress will use ‘its full power’ to get it restored.
“The Congress party will fully support you and your statehood demand. To reinstate statehood, the Congress will use our full power,” Rahul Gandhi said while addressing a large rally at Satwari in Jammu during his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ foot march.
“Statehood is your biggest issue. There is no big issue as big as Statehood. Your right has been snatched,” he said.
Gandhi said he spoke to a cross section of people from J&K during his yatra and they raised their issues. He said they told him that their voices are not being heard by the administration.
“The entire trade is being run by outsiders and people of J&K watch them sitting haplessly,” he said.
Gandhi said Jammu and Kashmir has the highest level of unemployment in the country. Youngsters aspire to become engineers, doctors and lawyers but they find they cannot, he said.
“There was another way to get employment earlier. It was with the Army. It has also been closed now by a new scheme, called Agniveer, introduced by BJP. That path is also now closed,” he added.
Defending Congress’ decision to start `Bharat Jodo Yatra’ to unite the country, Rahul Gandhi said his party was forced to undertake the 3500-km foot march after it was not allowed to speak on the pressing public issues in Parliament.
AICC leader slammed the BJP Government at the Centre for demonetisation, hasty implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the recently launched Agniveer Scheme.
Gandhi alleged that the Government is “facilitating” flow of money into the coffers of a few Corporators and ruining the small businesses across the country.
“The democracy in the country is under attack which is a major challenge for the nation. Before the commencement of the Yatra, we tried to raise the issues like demonetisation, GST, farmers’ bill and China’s aggression in Parliament, both in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, but we were not allowed and the mikes were being switched off,” the former Congress president alleged.
“We have come to open the shops of love in the markets of hatred. With this Yatra, we could see lakhs and crores of people have opened their shops of love, braving rains, cold and hot weather.”
He said the people from all walks of life including farmers, small traders, women and children shared their pain with him across different States during the Yatra and they all live together with love in this country.
While referring to the Agniveer Scheme launched by the BJP Government for recruitment in the armed forces, Gandhi alleged that it was meant to weaken the Army as seven to eight years are required to learn any skill.
“Army is like a family where many years are needed to allow a bond to build among the soldiers which later plays a great role in case of a war. It cannot be achieved in one or two years and the BJP thinks that the soldiers are completing their training in six months,” he said, adding Army officers know it very well and they are against this wrong policy but can’t speak openly.
“By relieving a trained soldier after four years without a pension under Agniveer, they have closed the doors for the youth who otherwise used to look forward for recruitment in the armed forces to serve the country,” Gandhi said.
The country was assuring the soldier that after 15 years of service it would take care of him, he added.
The Congress leader said the unemployment and growing inflation is the result of the wrong policies of the Government, which is only working for two to three corporate houses. But the BJP avoids to face these major public issues.
“Demonetisation and GST was a weapon to eliminate small traders and benefit these corporate houses. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP have broken the backbone of the country by finishing small and medium businesses which was the major sector providing employment in the country. This is the main reason for unemployment and price rise in the country as well,” Gandhi said.
He alleged that all the money is going into the pockets of these few corporate houses, while the rest of the population is suffering from poverty. The prices of fuel and LPG cylinders have gone sky high.
The Congress leader also accused the media of not highlighting the real issues of public importance like unemployment, inflation, and taking away land from the poor in J&K.
“For them, Gandhi wearing a T-shirt is an issue…I want to tell them that it is the people who are giving me so much love that I do not feel cold,” he maintained.
Gandhi said they have changed the timing of the start of the daily foot march from 6 am to 7 am on reaching Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the security guidelines.
The Congress’ march started from Kanyakumari on September 7 and entered Jammu and Kashmir from Punjab on Thursday.
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The Yatra is scheduled to end in Srinagar on January 30 with the hoisting of the national flag at the Congress office by Rahul Gandhi.
Meanwhile, a Kashmiri Pandit migrants delegation met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and briefed him about their various issues including “targeted killings” by terrorists, resultant protest by those employed under a Prime Minister’s package and over-aged unemployed youth.
The members said the package employees were provided jobs by the previous UPA Government led by Manmohan Singh. They are on protest over the past six months in Jammu and their salaries have been withheld.
Nearly 4,000 Kashmiri migrant Pandits are working in different departments in the Valley after their selection under the Prime Minister’s Employment Package announced in 2008. The package has two major components — 6,000 jobs for the youth from the community and building as many accommodation units for the recruited employees.
Charging the BJP with using the community to further its political agenda, the members said, “They (BJP) do not really mean to solve the problems of the Kashmiri Pandits because for them it is a political agenda to spread hate on the basis of religion.”
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi also paid obeisance at Raghunath Temple in Jammu, soon after his Bharat Jodo Yatra entered the city.
Gandhi, who was accompanied by senior party leaders, was garlanded by the priests at the temple.
Earlier, Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra received a warm welcome as it entered Jammu from the adjoining Samba district in the afternoon with authorities further strengthening the security cordon around him.
Gandhi, who walked wearing a white T-shirt, was welcomed by the public and party workers waiting in large numbers on either side of the road.
The Yatra started from Samba’s Vijaypur town along the Jammu-Pathankot highway at around 7 am today and was received warmly by a massive crowd as it crossed Sarore, Bari Brahmana and Kunjwani.
Amid loud slogans of ‘Nafrat Chhodo,… Bharat Jodo)’, the yatra witnessed a huge number of policemen joining the security ring around the Gandhi family scion at Kunjwani Chowk as it moved ahead towards Satwari Chowk.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, Congress general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal, AICC communication incharge Jairam Ramesh, AICC leader I/C J&K affairs Rajni Patil, J&K Congress chief Vikar Rasool Wani, his predecessor G A Mir, working president Raman Bhalla, former minister Tariq Hamid Karra, former DyCM Tara Chand, JKPCC chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma and others joined Yatra on its 129th day.
They were joined by a large number of party workers and supporters who were walking with the tri-colour.
Thousands of people had gathered to receive the march at Kunjwani, where a large delegation of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by general secretary (central) Amreet Singh Reen were waiting to join the yatra.
“We have come to support Gandhi who is moving with a message to strengthen the unity and remove hatred in the country,” senior PDP leader and former legislator Firdous Tak said.
Yatra will have night halt at Sidhra and tomorrow morning it will start from Nagrota and reach Jhajjar Kotli and after lunch break it will move to Udhampur and will have night stay at Chanderkote in Ramban.
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