RAMNAGAR: Chastising the ruling alliance for pushing the separatists agenda in the State and for its unabated bias against Jammu region, Harsh Dev Singh, JKNPP Chairman and former Minister went hammer and tongs against the BJP leadership describing them as puppets dancing to the tunes of their Kashmiri masters. He said that having surrendered upon their fundamental rights and 70 year old philosophy; they were now openly promoting the interests and agenda of the forces inimical to state. Never before had politics been denigrated to such abysmal level, so as to abandon all sense of self respect and pride for the sake of power, he roared.
Harsh was addressing a parallel rally in the vicinity of a BJP rally in Ramnagar which was several times larger than the latter despite the presence therein of various BJP Ministers, legislators and officials.
Accusing the BJP of making the most ignominious surrenders with respect to Jammu related issues, Singh said that the recent statements emanating from the parliament had immensely hurt the self respect and pride of Jammuites who gave the party 25 seats in the Assembly and both seats in Parliament. He said that the government categorically ruled out issuance of domicile certificate to WPRs in a statement in the parliament despite its tall commitments on the subject.
Needles to mention that the statement was made under the pressure from separatists, he said. Not only that, the BJP led government further announced in the parliament that it had no proposal for establishment of separate KP townships or any kind of Sainik Colonies in Kashmir, he lamented. He observed that the said statements were made only to appease separatists and to keep PDP in good humour so that its role of junior partner in the government remained intact.
Harsh said that the BJP not only disregarded its election time slogans on Article 370, but silently acquiesced to the statement of Mehbooba Mufti in the assembly describing the opponents of Art 370 as anti-nationals. He expressed dismay that there was no resistance at all in the Assembly when Mehbooba Mufti heaped insult on the tallest leaders of the saffron party who made supreme sacrifices for the integrity of nation, with the BJP leaders shamelessly swallowing the abuse only to remain glued to power. He lambasted the BJP for becoming a party to the decision of giving ex-gratia and jobs to the stone pelters. He further decried the BJP for surrendering the metro rail project costing Rs 15,881 crore which was recently announced for Kashmir to the neglect of Jammu. He further rebuked BJP for its failure to act against illegal immigrants including Rohingyas and Bangladeshis despite huge public outrage.
Accusing the BJP of having sacrificed the interests of Dogra land for the delusions and grandeur of power, Singh said that the Saffron Party had reduced itself to a petty accomplice with PDP. He called upon the touring ministers and leaders of BJP to stop testing the patience of the people who had recognised their real face behind their deceptive facades. He said that Panthers Party was the only hope for the people of Jammu and it stood proved by tremendous support which it was receiving from various corners across the region.
Among those who spoke on the occasion include Sukhdev Singh, Sanjit Sharma, Dev Singh, Thakur Dass, Sagar Dev, Capt. Vijay Singh, Shankar Singh, Pushpinder Singh, Arun Dev, Akash Kharka, Kasturi Lal and Pt. Shiv Ram.