‘2 Assembly seats be reserved for Sikhs, Christians’
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Mar 8: Former J&K Chief Minister and senior All India Congress Committee leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad has sent a communique stating that ongoing delimitation exercise in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is riddled with serious lacuna.
In different letters flashed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and Chairperson, Delimitation Commission, Justice (Retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai, Azad has pointed out that the ongoing delimitation process in the Jammu and Kashmir was riddled with serious lacuna.
The communique said, “it would be remiss not to point out that a basic mistake was made in the very character and composition of the Delimitation Commission. The decision to get political inputs only by associating the elected members of the Lok Sabha, has created a skewed situation, as only the opinion of two political parties finds reflection in this process.”
“It would be prudent and sagacious to formally associate all the political parties with this process to arrive at a far more fulsome and across the board acceptable final result. One example is the reservation of seats in certain districts, would lead to a skewed situation besides social and political tension whereby, those who are outside the ambit of reservation, may not find any representation whatsoever in the democratic sweep stakes. This will lead to the feeling of alienation and injustice getting further consolidated,” the letter read.
It said minorities- Sikhs and Christians have been a part of J&K’s ethos since times immemorial. Lest it be forgotten, that it was the Sikh Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who performed the Raj Tilak of the founder of Jammu and Kashmir Maharaja, Gulab Singh at the bank of river Chenab on June 17, 1822 at Akhnoor. Both these communities are spread across the region but due to lack of concentration of their population at one place, can’t get their representatives elected, the letter maintained.
But, on the earlier occasions, these communities were compensated by nominating them in the Legislative Council, which has now been totally abolished after down-grading the State, the communique said.
” It, therefore, would be in the fitness of things if two seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly are reserved for nomination with voting rights for a representatives of Sikh and Christian communities, respectively. It may be pointed out that earlier in the Assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, there were two nominated seats reserved for women with full voting rights,” the letter said.
It urged the Union Home Minister to give highest consideration to these points raised in his urgent letter.
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