Shadow Correspondent
Jammu, Feb, 25
The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee on Thursday protested against the property tax and unprecedented hike in prices of petrol, diesel and other essential commodities across the Union territory, including Jammu city at Satwari Chowk today. The protest was led by JKPCC Chief GA Mir and joined by senior leaders including former Ministers Raman Bhalla ,Mulla Ram,Yogesh Sawney besides hundreds of party workers. Holding placards in their hands, protesters raised slogans against BJP Govt demanding immediate rollback of hike in petrol and diesel prices. The protesters after organizing Dharna at Satwari Chowk tried to move towards the Tawi Bridge but were stopped by heavy deployment of Police midway. The march towards the Governor’s House was halted as JKPCC Chief along with former Ministers Raman Bhalla and Yogesh Sawhney, Manmohan Singh, along with Youth Congress President, NSUI State President, Seva Dal President, several Corporators and other leaders senior leaders were taken into preventive police custody and taken to Police lines where later they were released.
Prominent senior Congress leaders who participated in the protest were G A Mir, Raman Bhalla, Distt President Urban Yogesh Sawhney, Mulla Ram Former Minister, JKPCC General Secretary Manmohan Singh, Kanta Baan, Th. Balwan Singh, Rajnish Sharma, Distt Rural President Hari Singh Chib, Raman Mattoo, Sanjeev Sharma, Pawan Raina, Rajveer Singh, Varinder Singh Ravinder Singh, Youth President Uday Bannu Chib, NSUI State President Sunny Pirhar, Corporaters Bannu Mahajan, Dewrka Choudhary, Ritu Choudary, Gurdarshan Singh, Gagan Singh, JJ Singh, Organized by Sandeep Dogra Sonu.
Speaking on the occasion, JKPCC Chief said that from day one Congress has launched nationwide protest against the insensitive petroleum hike.Through protest and Dharna in different parts of UT, Congress leaders raising the issue of cruel price hike not only on the roads in the form of dharnas but also an extensive online campaign was also run by the party where all big leaders and lakhs of party workers and members raised the issue on various social media platforms .The Congress has been demanding that tax on petrol and diesel be reduced and the common people given relief in prices of fuel. “The so-called ‘double engine’ BJP governments are fooling the people of country.
The BJP is simply looting the people in the name of taxes,” he said and questioned the BJP-led government on what basis does it decide on the prices of petroleum products every day and the explanation for “subjecting people of J&K to this cruelty”. “BJP Govt is mercilessly looting the public with hiked fuel prices, especially during a raging pandemic! I want to ask why is this hike in petrol and diesel prices when international crude oil prices are low?” said Mir . He said petrol and diesel prices directly affect the common people but the Centre has not formulated any policy to deal with the economic slowdown and they passed on the burden to the masses.”No government can ignore people’s voice. Hike in petrol and diesel prices will have to be reversed,” he demanded. He said when the Congress-led UPA was in power, relief was given to people even though international crude oil prices were soaring while the Modi government has been raising petrol and diesel prices, burdening the common people and the farmers already facing hardships due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking on the occasion, former Minister Raman Bhalla said he failed to understand how any government can justify such thoughtless and insensitive measures directly at the cost of our people. BJP government has increased excise duty on diesel by 820% and on Petrol by 258% over and collected upwards of Rs. 21 lakh crore in the last six and a half years,” he said.This “unaccounted-for” windfall is yet to be passed to the people for whose benefit it was ostensibly collected, he said.Bhalla said it was cruel on the government’s part to refuse to reduce fuel prices even when global crude oil had crashed to $20 per barrel last year. The whole principle of deregulation and dynamic pricing is predicated on the principle that reductions in crude oil prices will proportionately benefit the end consumers, he asserted.The fact that BJP government fails to do so implies a deliberate and conscious decision to deny the common man his legitimate due,” he said.Why is the BJP igniting the fire of inflation, after taking votes from the people in the name of reducing it?” he asked.
Former Minister J&K Yogesh Sawhney called the imposition of property tax by the BJP government unacceptable and unjust. The government is resolute on squeezing money out of the public’s pockets in any way possible, from needless taxes which are swindled in the name of development, to the persistent price hike that has become the reality of today. The fuel price hike has not only hit the traders but also farmers, students, daily wage earners and other sections of the society. Befooling the public into paying high taxes when their hands are already tight because of a slow post-pandemic recovery, is a huge problem. If the international crude oil prices are low, why are the people of India paying such high prices for fuel? On what basis does it decide on the prices of petroleum products every day and what is the explanation for subjecting people to this cruelty? This uncontrolled inflation coupled with a raging pandemic and this government’s crude policies has inflicted a lot of misery upon a lot of sections of people in India. Even at a time when the economy is on path to recovery and the common man is suffering, the government is unwilling to sacrifice even part of their income.
Mula Ram, addressing the protesters, said that many challenges have been compounded by runaway inflation and an unprecedented rise in price of almost all household items and essential commodities,” . Stressing that fuel prices are at an “historic and unsustainable” high, he said petrol has breached the Rs 100 per litre mark in many parts of the country and the surging price of diesel has added to the escalating woes of millions of farmers.“What baffles most citizens, is that these prices have been increased despite moderate prices of international crude oil. What is equally distressing is that despite being in power for almost seven years now, the government continues to blame previous regimes for its own economic mismanagement, he said. To set the record straight, domestic crude oil production has fallen to an 18-year low in 2020, he said.
Th. Balwan Singh, blaming the BJP for causing misery and distress to people, said that the government has failed to resolve issues in J&K and instead has amplified the number of problems people are facing today. Locals are distraught and agitated over such an apathetic attitude of the government. Levying property tax is another misery added to the heaps and piles. The public will be adversely affected and there is possibly no good that can come out of this that outweighs the hardships it will cause. It is not plausible, therefore, that a tax like this implemented at this point. Secondly, lakhs of jobs have been lost and the economy is at its lowest ebb, an increase in petrol and diesel prices increase inflation day by day. We have to keep challenging the government on its exploits unless the government wakes up and rolls back these decisions.
Those present on the occasion include Block President Amrit Bali, Block President Yudvir Singh, Block Satish Sharma, Block President Mandeep Singh, Block President Jatinder Singh Chib Block President Surinder Singh Dutt, Atul Sharm, Chandershekhar Sharma, Varinder Chib, Rajesh Sharma, Vandana Mangotra, Suman Choudhary, Jatin Vashisht, Pardeep Bhalla, Aman Bawa, Ajaz Choudhary, Pawan Sharma, Gurmeer Kour, Rishi Jangi, Latish Sharma, Vijay Khajuria, Vipan Sharma, Arvinder Sharma,Karan Bhagat, Rakesh Sharma, Happy Sharma, Teja Singh, Baldev Singh Wazir, Beant Singh Khalsa, Kulbushan Sharma, Jasbir Singh, Diwan Chand, Balwinder Singh, Gagan Bral, Madam Harvinder Kour, Paras Ram Balouria, Suresh Sharma, Ajay Dogra, Vijay Choudhary, Rajinder Singh Randhawa, Madam Amana, Jagjeet Singh. Veena Devi, Dev Raj, sunny Kumar, Madan Ritta, Sunny Mehra, SS Sudan and others
