20 feet long statue of Maharaja Gulab Singh unveiled at Lakhanpur
Avtar Bhat
KATHUA, Mar 20: Hitting out at National Conference (NC) and its leadership, Union Minister in PMO with independent charge of Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh today held the party responsible for demolishing the legacy of Dogra rulers of J&K.
Talking to media persons at Lakhanpur near here on the sidelines of unveiling of 20 feet long statue of founder of Jammu and Kashmir State and first Dogra ruler of J&K, Maharaja Gulab Singh, Dr Jitendra Singh said the Dogra rulers who ruled the undivided J&K for over 100 years, were progressive people and thinkers ahead of their time. They constructed canals for irrigation , opened prestigious educational institutions not only for boys but women also when no such precedence was set up by the rulers in other 560 princely States of India.
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The Union Minister, without naming any opposition party, said those who make allegations that nothing has happened after the abrogation of controversial Articles 370 and 35 -A said they should visit Lakhanpur to see the grand statue of Maharaja. He said hurdles and barriers were created by earlier Governments led by NC in remembering the Dogra rulers and highlighting their contributions made for the development of the State and welfare of its people. All the Dogra rulers right from Maharaja Gulab Singh to Maharaja Hari Singh served the people of the J&K with sincerity to ensure that no one is deprived of justice.
Dr Jitendra Singh said during last over six decades this region suffered a lot and there was no development and it faced discrimination in every field. The people were not given justice and their self esteem was also hit to a great extent through the discriminatory and biased policies of the previous rulers”, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh alleged that perverted approach of NC towards J&K was based upon personal priorities of former Chief Minister of J&K and ex NC president, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah who was supported by former Prime Minister, Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru due to which people of the erstwhile State suffered a lot for decades together.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Dogra rulers were so innately wedded to people’s cause that Maharaja Hari Singh who while speaking after his coronation ceremony in 1925 said that onwards today his religion would be religion of justice and he did not believe in the policy of appeasement.
He said it was Narendra Modi Government which took the decision to start work on abandoned projects in J&K to put it on the path of development and progress. In this regard, he referred to Shahpur Kandi Project, Ujh Barrage, Atal Sethu, Biotech Park and many other projects.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that installing the statue of Maharaja Gulab Singh at Lakhanpur was historic decision as it (Lakhanpur) is gateway of J&K and it is the place where founder president of Jana Sangh, Dr Shyama Prasad Mookherjee was arrested in 1947 after breaking the permit system and later he attained martyrdom in makeshift jail in Srinagar.
The Union Minister, while justifying that the NC was responsible for the mass exodus of Pandits in 1989 said the situation in Kashmir took a critical turn after the Rajiv -Farooq accord in 1987 as the NC leaders rigged the Assembly poll to defeat some of the winning candidates of Muslim United Front (MUF).
The MUF leaders taking a serious recourse to it joined hands with the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and sat in their lap. This was the result of NC-Congress connivance when Rajiv Gandhi was Prime Minister, he added.
This was also the beginning of turmoil in Kashmir that led to mass exodus of Pandits with the killing of senior KP leader and president of BJP Kashmir, Tika Lal Taploo, senior leader and RSS ideologue, Prem Nath Bhat, Director Doordarshan (DD) Srinagar Lassa Kaul and Retired Session Judge, Neelkant Ganjoo who had passed death sentence on JKLF leader, Maqbool Bhat.
Dr Jitendra Singh, while ridiculing the statement of former Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah who had said that exodus of Pandits started from Jagmohan’s time said the selective killings of Pandits had started when Dr Farooq Abdullah was the CM. He said when Jagmohan took over, the situation had totally worsened in Kashmir. Dr Jitendra Singh also referred to Jagmohan’s book ‘My Frozen Turbulence’ in which he said the former Governor has given factual account of the situation in Kashmir at that time.
He said instead of taking care of his people, Dr Farooq Abdullah quit the Government and migrated to London leaving his people in lurch and escaping from his responsibility towards masses. Some of the Kashmiri leaders had developed a vested interest in militancy as they managed to win the elections after getting a very less percentage of votes by taking wrong advantage of deteriorating situation. “I had said it in Parliament that a law be enforced to fix the vote percentage for victory of a MLA and MP”, he added.
He also lambasted former Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti who also said that the Central Government did not stop the migration of Pandits at that time saying that it was Mehbooba’s father, Mufti Mohammed Sayed who was the Home Minister of country when Pandits’ exodus took place.
Former Deputy CM and senior BJP leader, Dr Nirmal Singh while talking to media said establishing of statue of the great Dogra leader is a historic decision and a proud movement for Dogras of Jammu. He said the people have resolved to establish the statue of Maharaja in PoJK also which is the integral part of J&K.
Senior BJP leader and former Minister Ajat Shatru Singh termed it a historic movement saying that the contribution of Dogra rulers was neglected by previous rulers in J&K. He said the Maharaja Gulab Singh had extended the boundaries of the State to Afganistan and China.
The function was organised by Lakhanpur Municipality led by its chairman Ravinder Sharma while the statue of Maharaja was made by well known sculptor and Padamshri Ravinder Jamwal. Chairman Kathua Municipality, Naresh Sharma and other BJP leaders were also present.
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