NPP protests against Modi govt for ignoring Jammu leadership

Accusing the BJP government of discriminating against Jammu region once again by keeping the leadership of Jammu region out of APM to be chaired by PM, the NPP activists led by Mr. Harsh Dev Singh Chairman JKNPP and former Minister held a massive protest at Jammu today and torched the effigy of the BJP govt. The protesters raised slogans of ‘ Modi Sarkaar Jammu ki Partiyon ko Nazarandaaz Karna Band Karo’, ‘Gupkari BJP Hai Hai’, ‘Jammu Virodhi BJP Hai Hai’, ‘Alagvaad Samarthak BJP Hai Hai.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh questioned the criteria adopted for selection of participants for the said meeting which was supposed to suggest a road map for a better future for J&K. He said that while every Tom, Dick and Harry was called from Kashmir, the most vociferous and versatile leadership of Jammu region had been deliberately ignored .He strongly objected to the invitation given to JKAP and PC which were non-recognized parties. In what capacity has Altaf Bhukhari and Sajjad Lone have been called despite their parties having not been recognized by ECI, questioned Harsh. Is it not a ploy to promote the pro separatist parties at the cost of aspirations of people of Dogra land, argued Singh. He said that nothing could be expected from the five nominees from Jammu region, including three of BJP and one of Congress who were likely to toe the line of their respective Central leaders who always determined what their local leaders needed to put in their mouths and what not. Under such circumstances all hopes were pinned solely upon Prof. Bhim Singh for projecting the concerns of incarcerated region of Jammu.

Pointing towards the all round neglect of Jammu region even post Art 370 abrogation, Mr. Singh said that unemployed youth had become the major casualty of the biased approach of the current regime. With entire focus of the present dispensation on Kashmir and Ladakh also, it was Jammu region alone which was suffering in terms of development, funds allocation, employment, power and tourism sectors besides others. It was the Kashmir centric parties that were setting the agenda and scripting the political narrative to be followed by the govt. And in the process Jammu was made to reconcile with its second class status. With the patience of Jammu people fast running out, it was Panthers Party which had assumed the mantle of navigating Dogra land and saving it from the biased policies of Kashmir and New Delhi. If small groups, sympathizers of separatists and unrecognized parties of Kashmir could be called for APM by the Centre, why were nationalists and pro people leaders of Jammu region excluded from the said meet, questioned Singh.

Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Rajesh Padgotra, Gagan Pratap Singh, Rajeshwar Singh, Yashpaul Sharma, Surinder Chauhan, Mohinder Singh, Khatab Hussain, Rakesh Gupta, Rajesh Gondhi, Arun Khajuria, Khajoor Singh, Ravinder Jamwal, Sadiq Hussain, Raman Bali, Ajay Singh besides others.