Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 8: Taking a strong dig at National Conference (NC) for its discriminatory attitude towards Jammu region BJP today said that having been fully exposed earlier on numerous occasions for its divisive and discriminatory policies, the NC once again has openly displayed its step-motherly attitude towards Jammu region by criticising the opening of IIT in Jammu.
Reacting to the NC’s statement in this regard BJP Spokesperson Brig (retd) Anil Gupta said NC which has been unabashedly aligning with separatist leaders as well as other pro-Pak elements in the Valley and is responsible for wilful neglect of Jammu region by diverting the funds meant for the development of the region is unable to digest the efforts of present BJP-PDP alliance government which is determined to end this discrimination.
“Holistic and balanced development of all the three regions of the State is the cornerstone of the Agenda of Alliance’’, he said. “The statement issued by the spokesperson of NC questioning the timing of inauguration and blaming the Deputy Chief Minister for being insensitive to the sentiments of Kashmiris is provocative and displays the ignorance of the Party,’’ Brig Gupta added.
He said that NC ought to know that all ‘institutes of excellence’ like the IIT follow an academic calendar. The inauguration was planned keeping that in mind because any further delay would have affected the academic routine of the students who have been admitted in this prestigious institution from all over the country on the basis of Common Entrance Test (CET) for all IITs. By giving a regional and religious touch to this the NC leadership has once again displayed their ‘mind-set’ and exposed their anti-Jammu bias, he added.
He said NC which is the co-architect of present turmoil and sheds crocodile tears for public consumption actually is busy adding fuel to the fire as is evident from the words and deeds of its leaders. Does the NC has even an iota of sympathy for the traders and businessmen of Jammu who are suffering daily losses worth hundreds of crore due to the ongoing unrest, he questioned?
Brig Gupta, while refuting the allegation that BJP ministers were absent from the Valley advised the NC spokesperson to verify his facts before making false allegations. BJP ministers also have to attend to their constituencies and hence their absence from Srinagar should not be made an issue by NC, the spokesperson said. Taking serious note of the statement issued by senior NC leader, Mubarak Gul, in which he criticised the use of pellet-guns by security forces and terming them as lethal, Brig Gupta reminded him that it was the NC Government in 2010 that had introduced the pellet gun as a non-lethal weapon.