Shadow Correspondent
JAMMU, AUG 06:
JKPCC Working President Raman Bhalla on Tuesday said that Jammu and Kashmir “lost its identity” under the BJP and appealed to the people to support Congress in the fight for the restoration of statehood.Bhalla said, “BJP regime has destroyed Jammu and Kashmir in various spheres, as it lost its identity, status, right over jobs, lands, opportunities of trade and transport and business besides whatsoever selections and recruitment were done in the UT, witnessed corruption and scams.”The Congress leader was interacting with the “aggrieved” people of Shankar Nagar Ward-49 Channi Ramma Bahu Constituency. The interaction was organized by Ex Corporator Kamal Singh. On this occasion, Fazal Hussain was appointed Ward President. Prominent among those present on the occasion include Shamsher Chand AICC Member, Hyder Hussain, Sadiq Ali, Sai Baksh, Miss Shashi Bala, Ravinder Singh, Suresh Kumar Billa Kuldeep Kumar, Ravi Kumar, Ajaz Ahmed, Bashir Ahmed, Razzaq Mohammed, Gulzar and others .
Speaking on the occasion, Bhalla said, “People have been exploited in the name of a bright future, control prices, and two crore jobs annually. But all their promises have fallen flat, except politics of hate and division. Jammu and Kashmir was a historical state with much better living conditions than most states in the country, but now it has been pushed into an atmosphere of political uncertainty.”He said that further delay in restoring statehood was bound to cause more disconnect between the Centre and J&K people, who he said were feeling hurt after the Centre’s move to downgrade the historical and full-fledged State into two Union Territories without their consent. “The Centre has to address that disconnect, at the right earnest, keeping in view the urges and aspirations of the people,” he said.Bhalla asserted that Congress is the only viable alternative to the “divisive policies” of the BJP which he said, “has vitiated the political, social, secular, and democratic atmosphere in the country and Jammu and Kashmir”.
Bhalla preferred to touch local issues confronting people while taking a dig at the BJP leadership. “Congress party is committed to restoring the lost glory of the state when it will be in government with the blessings of aggrieved citizens of J&K,” he said. “Congress initiated numerous welfare measures for the people of the state. They worked hard to ensure equality among the people of all castes, creeds and culture,” he said and recalled various steps taken by the Congress govt for the education of girls and welfare of the marginalised and neglected lot of society.He regretted that during the last ten years, J&K was neglected in all spheres of life as except tall promises and “julibazi”, nothing concrete had been done to provide basic amenities to the people.He said that the leaders from across the globe and people there know J&K by its name, but unfortunately, it lost its identity when the State was bifurcated. “There is not even a single citizen across Jammu, Kashmir who doesn’t want the restoration of Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. All the political parties also want statehood to be restored.
Bhalla further stated that the fight in politics never stops, adding that the political leaders or parties continue to fight against unemployment, diseases and other things. “But, in J&K, the fight against the enemies is an addition as they are very much active on the borders. We have a responsibility to remain united and fight against the enemy in unison. We can’t fight the enemy without staying intact,” he said. Bhalla gave a clarion call to the civil society, students, youth, traders and farmers of Jammu to unite for the cause of the region, saying “it is high time that pro Jammu forces joined hands to defeat and dethrone those who had betrayed the cause of the Dogra land”.”The very leaders in whom Jammu reposed its faith had betrayed it and relegated it to worse than second class status. The faith of the Jammu people in the present dispensation had been completely shaken in view of unprecedented bias to which the region had been subjected,” he said.
Bhalla said it was therefore necessary to bring about a change in the system by rejecting the opportunist leaders and promoting a class of leadership which can truly espouse the cause of the incarcerated land of Dogras. “Let’s unite to fight the nefarious designs of those who are desperate to demolish our culture and destroy our pristine glory, Bhalla. He also lashed out at the BJP for its policies and said attempts are being made to silence those who speak against the ruling party. “We need BJP ‘Mukt Bharat’ instead of BJP ‘Mukt J&K’ for our survival, he said, adding that the Jammu region was far better under the rule of Congress than the BJP.”Since 2018, the people of J&K have been denied any avenue to express their grievances.
The region has become a bureaucratic fiefdom controlled by Union govt. Five years after being stripped of their statehood, the people of J&K still lack clarity on what the timeline for this return of statehood is.
Bhalla said people of Jammu and Kashmir have been left without an elected government for the last six years.
The last Vidhan Sabha elections were held in 2014 and four seats in the Rajya Sabha remain vacant because of the delay in holding assembly polls. The terms of 4,892 Panchayats and 316 Block Development Councils (2nd and 3rd tiers of Panchayati Raj) also came to an end on January 9, 2024. The blame for this suspension of democracy lies entirely with the Centre. It is only the Supreme Court-imposed deadline of September 2024 that has forced the Center to conduct the polls now. Can BJP explain this long delay in holding the elections? Why has he clung so desperately to power in a state where the people never chose to be led by him?”
