Shadow Correspondent
Samba, July, 15
Apni Party today staged a protest demonstration against the granting of additional powers to the Lt Governor in Jammu and Kashmir empowering him in comparison to the elected Govt.
As per a press release, a protest demonstration was organized in Ramgarh under the leadership of Party’s Provincial President, Jammu, and Former Minister, S. Manjit Singh. The protest was organized by Adv Sahil Bharti, District President of the Party, Legal Cell, Samba.
The protest / meeting was organized to express anguish against the Central Govt widening the ambit of the administrative authority of the Lt Governor in Jammu and Kashmir, following an amendment of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in the Transaction of Business Rules. During the protest, the Party leaders, and workers shouted slogans against the empowering of the LG and weakening of the elected institutions because of this decision the common masses will suffer. “How would an elected Govt in J&K work without authority? That elected Govt would not be able to work as per the wishes of the people, but they had to depend upon the approval of the LG even in developmental and transfer related issues in the administration as well as police,” he added. He said that the elected Govts with this decision in J&K would be working on crunches of LG.
“If the LG will not agree, the Govt has to step back from the decisions it made. Hence, the empowering of the LG in J&K is fruitless, and it has centralized the Govt making it helpless with no authority to work for the people,” he added. He demanded that the LG’s extra authority should be withdrawn, and the elected Govt in J&K should be given adequate powers that are being enjoyed in all the states of the country. Meanwhile, he also said that the statehood restoration is a long pending demand that should be accepted by the Central Govt.
“Ignoring the public grievances would not help the Govt to work out the problems in J&K. The Govt should understand that the people of the people in Jammu as well as in Kashmir are equal and they have joined hands to fight for their right to get back constitutional rights of an elected Govt and launch a struggle for the restoration of full statehood with all powers,” he added. Earlier, he chaired a meeting of Party leaders and workers, who expressed their full faith in the leadership of President of the Party, Syed Mohammed Altaf Bukhari.
The Party leaders and workers in Ramgarh pledged to fight for the rights in a united manner to foil the nefarious decision to weaken the democratic institutions of Jammu and Kashmir.
