The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) on Thursday held a day-long meeting here to chalk out an action plan to oppose the India-US interim trade deal, terming it “anti-farmer” and “anti-fruit grower” and warning that it would hit the Union Territory harder than other parts of the country.The meeting, chaired by JKPCC president Tariq Hameed Karra, was attended by senior Congress leaders from all 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir, and AICC national general secretary and Congress Legislature Party leader G A Mir, besides MLAs, former ministers and legislators.
Addressing the meeting, Karra said the deal would “destroy farmers and fruit growers” and adversely impact allied sectors such as poultry and dairy in the Union Territory.
“The US has imposed this deal on India. For the first time, the interests of farmers have been bartered away. Farmers and fruit growers in Jammu and Kashmir will be hit the hardest,” Karra said.
Alleging that the prime minister has “surrendered before the US repeatedly”, he accused the Centre of compromising national interests.
“This deal is anti-people and against the interests of the nation. The prime minister is compromised and has sold the interests of farmers under external pressure,” he said.
Karra announced that the party would launch a vigorous mass campaign against the deal and organise a series of farmers’ and fruit growers’ conventions across Jammu and Kashmir.
“We have invited Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to attend a fruit growers’ meet in Kashmir and a farmers’ sammelan in Jammu next month,” he said, adding that district-level programmes would begin from March 1.
The PCC meeting also strongly condemned the arrest of Indian Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib, calling it “illegal, unjustified and dictatorial”.
“Peaceful protest has been criminalised under the Modi government. We will come out on the streets across Jammu and Kashmir to seek his release,” Karra said.
AICC general secretary G A Mir stressed the need to create awareness among farmers and common people about the implications of the deal.
“For the first time, a compromised prime minister has sold out the interests of farmers and the country. Our leadership is determined to protect farmers, especially in Jammu and Kashmir,” Mir said.
He too condemned Chib’s arrest, alleging “vendetta politics and authoritarianism” by the BJP-led Centre, and lauded Youth Congress workers for taking the lead in opposing “wrong policies”.
JKPCC working president Raman Bhalla said the party cadres would reach out to farmers to explain the “dangerous consequences” of the deal.
“The prime minister’s repeated surrender before the US is a matter of grave concern,” Bhalla said, adding, “The arrest of Uday Bhanu Chib is illegal and dictatorial.” He added that the Congress would oppose the Centre’s policies “tooth and nail”.