In view of the MHA empowering the UT of J&K to impose Property Tax on the people, a strong contingent of Panther activists led by Mr. Harsh Dev Singh Chairman JKNPP along with other leaders staged a thunderous protest demonstration in Jammu today. While setting ablaze the effigy of the BJP govt, the agitated protesters raised the slogans against the Saffron Party and accused it of imposing another obnoxious tax on the people to ramp up organized loot and plunder of public money.
Speaking to the media, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh lambasted the BJP for imposition of ‘Kesari Jazia’ on the people. “Mark my words, govt’s decision to impose Property Tax on the public will bring the curtains down for the Saffron party once and for all. You have been extorting money from the people amid Corona pandemic like a blood sucking parasite. Imposition of Toll Tax followed by Property Tax would further aggravate the brewing anger of the people to catastrophic rage. You will be blown to smithereens and defenestrated from the core constituency by the people”, Harsh said while taking a dig at BJP. He recalled that in 2011 when the then government had sought to introduce the imposition of Property Tax in the erstwhile State, Panthers party opposed the bills vehemently in the Assembly to ensure that no such tax was levied on the people. He wondered that how could the govt impose Property Tax in a fragile environment of J&K where the economy has plunged to abysmally low. The move will surely impede the economic revival as it would put extra burden on the public at large, rued Harsh.
Cautioning the govt of serious consequences arising from imposition of Property Tax, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh divulged that since all the major commercial activities in J&K like tourism, industries, real estate, agriculture, etc. had born the brunt of insurgency, civil unrest and natural disasters in the past many years, the move to levy such tax would break the back of the people from all sects of society. “Moreover the COVID-19 outbreak has hit all lines of business severely. People are under enormous distress. Border dwellers are facing the wrath of skirmishes. Farmers have suffered huge loss of crops and cattle stock due to incessant rains and landslides. Unemployment has soared in almost every household. Where from people will pay the Property Tax? J&K needs stimulus packages and not the extortion of taxes”, said Harsh. He called upon Union Minister Amit Shah to review the decision and cautioned MHA that imposition of such obnoxious tax would only trigger public revulsion and force them to revolt against the authoritarian rule. Roll back the Property Tax without any delay. Panthers party shall vigorously oppose any move that is anti-people. We will be forced to lead a mass movement in case the dictatorial decision by the Central govt. continued to be imposed on us, roared Harsh.
Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Rajesh Padgotra, Parshotam Parihar, Surinder Chouhan, Nirmal Kishore, Ravinder Jamwal, Mohinder Singh, Kala Sambyal, Kulbhushan Attri, Ravind Raina, Rashpaul Singh, Makhan Lal, Gurjeet Singh, Subash Sharma, Darshan Singh, Vijay, Sunil, Lehar Singh besides others.