Excelsior Correspondent
SAMBA, Aug 14: Reiterating his demand for restoration and preservation of Mubarak Mandi heritage complex, Th Gulchain Singh Charak, former Minister and President of Dogra Sadar Sabha J&K, today cautioned the Govt against conversion of a portion of the protected monument into a hotel.
Addressing a series of meetings at Badhori, Patti and other areas in Samba Distt, he said there was no precedence of such conversion of protected monuments into a commercial hub either in Rajasthan, known for its flourishing heritage tourism industry, or anywhere else in the country.
“This ill conceived move will not only erase the magnificent Dogra Heritage but also compromise our heritage and cultural identity, for flimsy gains,” he said and appealed to the Lt Governor Manoj Sinha that the local intelligentsia and civil society invariably must be involved while taking any decisions pertaining to the conservation of their heritage and their sentiments must be respected.
Expressing their views in the meetings, prominent speakers like Khjoor Singh, Bodh Raj, Dr Gain Chand, Atta Mohd, Sagar Singh, Sub Gain Singh, Jagdeep Singh, Baldev Singh and others highlighted the local problems like fast spreading menace of drug abuse among youths of the areas and disclosed that number of young ones have already lost their lives because of this drug addiction. Another issue that was taken up was the bad condition of National Highway due to six laning work in progress. Moreover, the rainy season has further damaged the existing roads causing number of accidents resulting into loss of precious lives. The speakers appealed to Charak to take up their problems with the concerned authorities for taking necessary redressal measures to address their grievances.
In the meetings, some resolutions were adopted asking the Government to take immediate and appropriate measures in protecting and preserving the prestigious Mubarak Mandi Heritage complex; restore Dogra certificate, inclusion of brave deeds of Dogra heroes in the educational curriculum in schools and colleges and development of Dogra Sadar Sabha Bhawan at Dogra hall, Jammu under Smart City Project.
Prominent among those, who participated in the meetings, included Shavinder Singh, Bashir Mohd, Bodh Raj, Chhankar Singh, Bhupinder Singh, Majid Mohd, Noor Hussain, Pawan Singh and others.
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