Jammu, February 04, (Scoop News)-Accusing NC-Congress coalition in general and Congress party in particular of perpetrating injustice after injustice on people of Jammu province, State BJP President Jugal Kishore Sharma, along with Prof Hari Om, Political Advisor, on Tuesday urged the people to avenge their humiliation and neglect at the hands of the Congress party. “Congress more than NC or PDP has been causing more harm to people of Jammu province in its desperate bid to appease the Kashmiri ruling elite and remain on its right side,” he said while talking to reporters at party headquarters here, and added that “Congress in particular would have to pay a very heavy price of unpopularity by not making its alliance partner during the February 1 Cabinet meeting to accept the suggestion of Cabinet Sub-Committee (CSC) regarding creation of five more districts in Jammu province”.
“The CSC had made the suggestion that five new districts be created in Jammu province, including one district for Nowshera, Sunderbani and Kalakot in Rajouri district, one district for Billawar, Basohli and Bani in Kathua district, one district for Akhnoor and one district for Bishnah, R S Pura and Suchetgarh in Jammu district and one district for Mahore and Gool in Reasi district. The CSC had also recommended two new districts in Kashmir, one each in Baramulla and Kupwara districts and on additional district in Ladakh by bifurcating Leh and Kargil districts. It is highly disturbing that the NC-Congress Cabinet rejected this suggestion much against the wishes of people of Jammu province, who had been fighting for more districts since the early 1970s. BJP delegation during its meeting with CSC in Jammu had forcefully and cogently put forth the demand for the creation of five new districts in Jammu province on the ground that the land area of Jammu province was almost two time that of Kashmir and its population equal, if not more, but much to its chagrin the coalition government turned down its demand,” he said.
Jugal said that “it was not the first occasion when the Congress ditched the people of Jammu province and added that the Ghulam Nabi Azad-led coalition government had also done the same in 2007, when it rejected the 1983 Wazir Commission report that had recommended three new districts of Samba, Kishtwar and Reasi in Jammu province and one new district of Bandipora in Kashmir province and created eight new districts, four each in Jammu province and Kashmir Valley throwing to the wind the laid down criteria for the creation of new administrative units”. He said the BJP has decided to make the anti-Jammu province attitude of Congress and NC a major issue during the coming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and asked the party cadres to educate public opinion about their discriminatory, divisive and separatist and militant-friendly policies, besides highlighting the grave evils that followed on the adoption and application of anti-people, anti-democratic, and essentially divisive Article 370.
The State BJP president asked Congress-NC coalition to review its anti-Jammu province decision and create the suggested eight districts, five in Jammu, two in Kashmir and one in Ladakh forthwith failing which the BJP would be left with no other option but to agitate. He said this is the first reaction of his party as it has not yet got a copy of the CSC report and would give a detailed reaction in the next few days after it studied the report in minute details.