Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU/SRINAGAR, Sept 20: Bharat bandh, the call of which was given by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Left parties and Samajwadi Party evoked a total response in Jammu and districts of Kathua, Samba, Udhampur, Reasi, Ramban and Doda today.
In Jammu, all the business establishments remained closed and traffic was off the roads. However, the bandh passed off peacefully and no untoward incident was reported from any where in the region.
The bandh call was given by opposition parties in protest against the hike in prices of diesel, removing of subsidy on LPG and allowing the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail market.
The response to bandh call was spontaneous as members of business community voluntarily closed their business establishments to protest against the entry of Foreign Direct Investment in the retail market posing a grave threat to retailers all over the country while transporters remained off the roads in protest against the hike in prices of diesel.
Early in the morning bandh enforcers were seen asking people to close their business establishments in the city and its outskirts. Even some youth burnt rubber tubes of vehicles at various places to disrupt the movement of private transport as well.
The attendance in Government offices was thin while the educational institutions remained closed for the day in response to bandh call.
Various political parties including BJP, CPI (M), Dogra Front, Jammu West Assembly Movement, Hindustan Shiv Sena (HSS) and Bharatiya Chaitanya Party (BCP) held demonstrations and took out rallies to protest against the UPA Government’s anti people policies.
The BJP took out a protest rally from Party Headquarters Kachhi Chawni to Purani Mandi under the leadership of its state president Shamsher Singh Manhas.
The rally was addressed by Party national general secretary Kiran Maheshwari at Purani Mandi. While addressing the rally she took the UPA Government to task for its anti people policies and alleged that the Congress led coalition at Centre instead of taking nation forward was pushing it backward.
She strongly criticized the decision to hike the prices of diesel, capping of LPG and allowing FDI to enter into Indian market. The senior BJP leaders who participated in the rally included Dr Nirmal Singh, Ashok Khajuria, Ashok Koul, Dr Jitendra Singh Jugal Kishore Sharma, Ch. Sukhnandan, Satish Sharma, Sat Sharma (CA), Chander Mohan Sharma Usha Choudhary, Mamta Singh, Rajesh Gupta and Manesh Sharma.
Later addressing a press conference at Party Headquarters, Mrs Kiran Maheshwari termed the bandh, the call of which was given by the BJP “a total success.” She said the Congress led UPA has been totally exposed for corruption as it has many scams to its credit from Asian Games to coal scam.
She said Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh has no right to remain in office and owe moral responsibility for coal scam and resign.
Taking Government to task for brining FDI she said in contrary to promise made with the opposition that decision will be taken after thorough debate in Parliament and with public representatives, the Government brought the FDI in huff. She said the UPA was in league with foreign based multinationals and the decision on FDI will force retailers to close their business establishments.
She also took the Government to task for hike in prices of diesel and capping LPG saying on what basis the decision was taken on LPG. This way the Government was pushing the country backwards, she added.
She demanded subsidy on LPG should continue and accused UPA of making people disappointed with its anti people policies.
Regional Committee of CPI (M) held a protest demonstration at Press Club here and demanded roll back of unprecedented hike in prices of diesel, limiting the supply of gas cylinders to six, disinvestments of PSUs and entry of FDI in retail sector.
Addressing the gathering, Sham Prasad Kesri, region secretary CPI (M) lambasted the UPA for its decision on FDI entry and said this will pave way to MNCs to enter into India and grab the market.
Hindustan Shiv Sena (HSS) which also held a demonstration in the city warned the UPA Government to desist from its “anti people policies”. The demonstration was addressed by national president HSS, Dimpy Kohli.
A procession was also taken out by the activists of Dogra Front led by its president Ashok Gupta from Raghunath Chowk to Press Club to protest against the Government decision on FDI. He equated the permission to FDI with entry of East India Company which later ruled India for centuries together.
The activists of Jammu West Assembly Movement also took out a protest rally against the rising prices and entry of FDI. Addressing the rally, president of the Movement Sunil Dimple demanded immediate roll back of the decision.
Bhartiya Chaitanya Party (BCP) which held a car and bike rally to protest against Government decision on FDI demanded its immediate roll back. Addressing the protestors, national president of the Party Shiva Bharatiya said despite the countrywide protests against the FDI Government was showing no signs to relent.
A protest demonstration was also held by Shiv Sena Hindustan (SSH) at Kachhi Chawni here against hike in prices of diesel and LPG Gas. The demonstration was led by president of organization Rajesh Kesri. The protestors torched effigy of UPA Government.
BJP and BJYM activists held a demonstration at Muthi in protest against the anti people policies of UPA Government. Led by Omi Khajuria, Suraj Parkash Padha and Mukesh Sharma they also blocked the Jammu -Akhnoor road by burning rubber tubes on it for two hours.
Reports coming from Kathua said that total bandh was observed in the district and people held protest demonstrations at various places against the price hike and entry of FDI. The traffic was off the roads and no passenger traffic plied on National Highway also.
Total bandh was observed in Samba district and irate people held a protest demonstration in the town torching the effigy of UPA Government.
Normal life was put out of gear in Doda district as the response to NDA’s bandh was near total. All the markets remained closed in twin towns of Doda and Bhadarwah while the traffic was off the roads. The BJP activists were seen moving in each and every market in Doda and Bhadarwah asking people including small business vendors to close their business establishments.
The normal life was affected in Reasi and other towns of the district in response to NDA and other parties bandh call today. All shops in Reasi town remained closed while the traffic was off the roads. BJP activists led by Kabla Singh took out a protest march in the town.
BJP activists held a demonstration in front of tehsil office at Rajouri and torched the effigy of Prime Minister. However the bandh failed to evoke response in the town. In Poonch, the bandh evoked a partial response and BJP activists staged a dharna and torched the effigy of UPA. The traffic on Jammu-Poonch Highway also remained disrupted.
The bandh also evoked partial response in Kishtwar where BJP activists held a demonstration in the town against the UPA Government’s policies. The demonstration was addressed by BJP leaders, Sunil Sharma, Ravi Kumar Thakur and Hukum Chand who demanded immediate roll back of the decisions.
A complete bandh was observed in Udhampur town where all markets wore a deserted look and traffic was off the roads in response to bandh call. In the evening a demonstration was held by BJP in which the effigy of Prime Minister was torched.
The demonstration was addressed by Pawan Gupta senior vice president state BJP, Som Raj Khajuria, Dina Nath Bhagat and Raj Kumar Bucha.
Demonstrations were also held by Youth Democratic Front at Neeli Nullah and Kamba Danga in Udhampur under the leadership of Balwant Kumar alias Vicky in which UPA was taken tot ask for its anti poor policies.
Total bandh was also observed in Vijaypur, Bishnah, R S Pura and Akhnoor towns today with BJP activists holding protest rallies.
In Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir unit of CPI(M) led by state secretary Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami assembled in Pratap Park and took out a peaceful rally.
BJP activists also held a protest demonstration at Capital City of Srinagar today in protest against the price hike and entry of FDI. The irate party activists raised slogans against the UPA and Prime Minister.
There was no response to the bandh call in the Valley. Transport, shops and other business establishments functioned normally.
Addressing a rally in Srinagar, CPI(M) leader Tarigami said, FDI in multi-brand retail trade will deprive millions of people across the country of their livelihood.
“The policies of the Congress-led UPA government are anti-poor. They are a burden on common man, who is affected by the price rise. The Government should have taken initiatives to reduce inflation and control prices. But on the contrary they announced the hike in Diesel and that too just after the Parliament session got over,” Tarigami said.
JKNPP MLA Harshdev Singh in a statement said, “Congress Government has failed on all fronts…They are ridden with corruption and scams.” He called for rollback in the price of diesel and also new policy of LPG.
Meanwhile in their separate statements Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), Janata Dal united and Motor Parts Association complimented the people business community members and transporters for making the bandh a success.
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