Accusing the BJP of cheating the people with its fictional accounts of achievements and holding celebrations from August 5, the day the J&K State was downgraded as UT, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh Chairman JKNPP and former Minister said that Saffron Party’s conduct only amounted to rubbing salt on the wounds of Jammu people and nothing else. While Jammu region continued to bleed and boil, the BJP chose to hold festivities so as to celebrate its fascist rule with vague, nauseating speeches and slogans of its leaders. The obnoxious cock-a-hoop would further antagonize the general masses of the region who were already feeling let down and betrayed, said Harsh. He said that with raging fires having engulfed almost the entire political constituency of BJP, the celebrations by the saffron brigade would come as a ‘bludgeoning jolt’ for the Jammuites. He was addressing a press conference in Jammu today.
Speaking to the media, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh expressed its anguish over the political mutilation the erstwhile J&K State had gone through post enactment of Reorganization Act on 5th August 2019. He said the shocking event left the people stunned and confused when the Statehood of 200 years old historical Dogra territory was snatched and they were forced to usher into the political territory controlled by the Central government.“The shocker caused the greatest embitterment in the hearts and minds of the people, rued Harsh”. Lambasting the BJP government for its foxy move, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh divulged that immediately after the political demotion of the erstwhile State, the government resorted to the policy of suppression by stalling the high speed mobile internet services. “Not only the people were restricted from accessing mobile internet by the regime but they were also robbed of their hard earned money by the telecom giants who levied the tariff on million of their subscribers without providing the services. This trend is still prevalent as the telecom companies are charging the people for 4G services against the actual 2G services provided to them”, said Singh.
Referring to the state of affairs post August 5, Mr. Singh said that the youth, the farmers, the border dwellers, the traders and businessmen including all the sects of the society continued to suffer. The unemployed and the underemployed were given false promises by the Saffron government with no new jobs in the sight despite hollow assurances of filling 1 lakh vacancies. The notifications for the posts advertized earlier were obnoxiously withdrawn and the selection process of several posts in J&K bank were whimsically scrapped in the most glaring example which had never happened before. The farmers of Jammu region till now are not paid a single penny as compensation for their perished crops. The life of people living on borders has been thrown out of gear with no one paying heed to their plight. The students and the traders are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 epidemic in absence of the regular classes and normal business activity”, Harsh lamented.
Alleging that deprivation of Jammu region remained unabated even after abrogation of Article 370 and 35 A, Mr. Singh said that the projects including Artificial Tawi Lake, Mubarak Mandi Heritage Project, Cable Car Project to Bahu and Mohmaya temple, Smart City, AIIMS all appeared to have been abandoned. And the only achievement of the BJP led government appeared to be the installation of multiple Toll Plazas and new proposal for opening several bars and liquor vends on Dogra soil, asserted Singh. Adjuring the people to support and participate in the movement of Panthers Party for restoration of Statehood to J&K, he urged the masses to come and unite together for the cause so that they were sooner liberated from the clutches of dictatorial and despotic regime. He disclosed that the Panthers Party would hold protests at District and Tehsil Headquarters on August 5 to seek the restoration of statehood for the erstwhile Dogra State.
Meanwhile, over a dozen youth joined Panthers Party in the presence of Mr. Raj Partap Singh, leader of Young Panthers. Prominent among those who joined the Party included Sahil Kumar, Darshan Kumar, Inderjeet Punyia, Yash Paul Singh, Saffu Khan, Abdul Hamid, Sunil Singh, Lal Hussian, Dalver Singh, Kuldeep Singh, Mohd. Saleem besides others.
Mr. Surinder Chouhan, District President Jammu (Rural)-JKNPP was also present on the occasion.