Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 23: Pandit Prem Nath Dogra was a great patriot and he played a memorable role in shaping many things at the national level especially in Jammu Kashmir to put this State as an integral part of India. Moreover, he was a great visionary and had warned the ruling leaders of dangers enshrined in fundamentalism when they were sowing its seeds over fifty years ago.
Paying rich tributes to Pandit Dogra on the eve of his 133rd birth anniversary, the former Union Minister, Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta said that Pandit Ji was a crusader against evils including that of untouchability, drinking, child marriages, dowry etc. but his great struggle to bring this State at par with other parts of the country was remarkable. To achieve this goal, he suffered jails and other hardships. Because of this, many barriers between this State and rest of India as also the discriminatory dealings came to an end but still needed much to be done to fulfil his mission.
Prof. Gupta said that many problems facing the people of this State and that of rest of India were results of the wrongs committed by the ruling leaders. He recalled that in sixties when the Congress and Sheikh Mohd Abdullah supported Kashmir Plebiscite Front were engaged for their supremacy in Kashmir, the Sheikh had given a call of Tark-e-Mawalat (social boycott) by terming the Congressmen as “insects of dirty lanes”.
To belittle the Sheikh the Congress rulers indulged in pampering his traditional adversaries who were known as Bakras (Muslim Conference). They also favoured the emergence of Jamat-e-Islami of Ali Shah Geelani and his likes; he added and recalled that Pandit Ji met the ruling leaders to convey his worries of the future moves which would lead to many dangers to the polity.
Prof. Gupta said that Pandit Dogra was a great visionary and he had left many things to learn especially for those who are in public life. He had made tremendous sacrifices and set examples of selfless service to the society as a whole.
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