Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 3: Condemn-ing the call given by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and other Hurriyat leaders for a shutdown in Valley today, Brigadier (retd) Anil Gupta, BJP State spokesperson said that a soldier while defending his motherland or fellow countrymen does not differentiate between any region/ religion.
In a statement issued here today he said, the cause of the soldiers should be supported by all irrespective of their individual beliefs. The soldiers deserve to have a piece of land for building a shelter for their families, said Brig Gupta. Unfortunately, rather than supporting the cause of the soldiers, separatists and Valley-centric politicians are playing divisive politics at their cost which has adverse impact on their morale, he added.
Justifying the need for Sainik Colonies in the State, Brig Gupta explained, “a soldier remains away from his home during his service due to the constraints of the service. Most of the times he has to stay separate from his family either due to non-availability of family accommodation or due to being posted in out of home station. He, however, desires to provide good education to his children and medical facilities to his family. He prefers to keep his family in a nearby urban town with good educational and medical facilities, he added.
He said the soldiers belonging to J&K were deprived of a major welfare project launched by the Armed Forces. “J&K today has large population of soldiers both serving and retired. There is only one Sainik Colony in the State. With JAK LI becoming a regular regiment of the Indian Army with 100 % recruitment from the State, number of soldiers and their families has increased considerably in the Valley itself.
Keeping these facts in mind the previous Governments led by NC patron Farooq Abdullah and president Omar Abdullah had agreed to the idea of exclusive colonies for the soldiers with land to be provided by the Government at subsidised rates, he added.
He said a Sainik Colony in the Valley is needed keeping in view the welfare of the soldiers belonging to the State.
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