Asserting that the BJP govt’s claims of ushering a ‘new era of dawn’ post Article 370 abrogation has proved a farce, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh Chairman JKNPP & former Minister regretted that the erstwhile State had faced worst ever crisis during the last few years. “The total collapse of health services in controlling the Corona pandemic in J&K, the Chinese build up in Ladakh with Pakistan continuing with its misadventures all across IB and LoC, crashing economy, back breaking inflation, soaring unemployment, resentment among farmers and border dwellers, non restoration of mobile 4G services affecting the students, traders and professionals, etc have made the situation from bad to worse in J&K”, said Singh. He was addressing a public meeting at Gobindpura in Satwari Block of Jammu organized by Surinder Chouhan, District President Jammu (Rural) and Mrs. Anita Choudhary, State Secretary-Mahila Panthers today.
While addressing the gathering, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh lambasted the GoI for its failure to flatten the curve of Corona pandemic which has not only brought the country on the second spot in the world in terms of community transmission but also exposed the vulnerability of the prevalent Health care system.“J&K has seen sudden surge in the Corona cases with fatalities occurring every day. Govt. hospitals are in chaos and the total collapse of health services has raised the eyebrows over the functioning of the M&HE department. Referring to the border conflicts and political killings in the region, Mr. Singh rued that factual reports had laid bare the ground realities and punctured the government’s peace claims. He said ever since the abrogation of J&K’s special status, both the LoC and the IB have witnessed an escalation in ceasefire violations by Pakistan. The rogue nation has been pounding forward villages causing immense loss to the lives and property of the border dwellers. Not only the border skirmishes have soared but the belligerent nation also continued to infiltrate militants, arms and drugs to vitiate peace in the region. With Chinese build up at the south bank of Pangong lake in Ladakh after Galwan standoff refusing to budge from our territory, the situation has posed a serious threat to the security of our country. The failure of the BJP government to curb border conflicts has pitted J&K against all odds. Spike in political and civilian killing in the region has corroborated the security lapse in the system. The opposition leaders have been deliberately deprived of adequate security cover and the dissenting leaders are being killed under a deep rooted conspiracy, said Harsh.
Ruing the country’s plunging economy with GDP falling to all time low, Mr. Singh said that back breaking inflation and rise in unemployment had brought the growth rate to the grinding halt. He said that skyrocketing prices of fuel and essential commodities had robbed the pockets of the common man. He regretted that inflation had become a benchmark of BJP’s governance and looting people had always been its nasty motive. “The petrol, diesel and LPG have become dearer and as a result the prices of other essentials have also soared. The prices of vegetables, fruits, dairy products, cereals and others have gone beyond the reach of the common masses”, Harsh said. Alleging brazen disregard for the concerns of the educated unemployed and underemployed youth of J&K by the incumbent govt. Mr. Singh regretted that discontent amongst youth was growing with each passing day. He however regretted that not only were the youth cheated in the name of employment package but the existing vacancies were also allowed to remain unfilled.
Raising the issue of the farmers, Mr. Singh expressed concern over the highly undemocratic and authoritarian approach of the ruling party in Parliament in rushing through the bills. He expressed his anguish over the passage of three Agriculture related bills without holding any debate. “This is sheer murder of democracy. Coercive and unconstitutional means to suppress the voice of people will only bring civil unrest. The farmers all across the country have been protesting against the bills. They are apprehensive about getting Minimum Support Price for their produce. Having apprehensions about the upper hand of the agri-businesses and big retailers in negotiations, they have a genuine fear of becoming corporate slaves in the times to come”, Harsh maintained.
Mrs. Manju Singh, General Secretary-JKNPP appealed the people to support Panthers Party open heartedly so that they could be bailed out from the present morass. She said that NPP was the only viable option for the people of Jammu region and the empowerment of Panthers Party would mean empowerment of the people who had been severely marginalized by the BJP government and the Kashmir centric regime.
Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Capt. Anil Gour, Surinder Chouhan, Mrs. Anita Choudhary, Rakesh Gupta, Sonika Randhawa, Seema Rajput, Yogita Sharma, Gurdeep Singh@Raju, Kirti Fangotra, Seema Mehra, Yash Paul, Raj Kumar, Raju, Rajesh Kumar, Jaipaul, Ajay Kumar, Som Lal, Bitu Kumar besides others.