Political Correspondent
JAMMU: It’s not fair. The MoS in the PMO Jitendra Singh is under severe attack in Kashmir for no reason. The Federation Chamber of Industry Kashmir (FCIK) has attacked him and termed him anti-Kashmir and pro-Jammu. NC leader and former Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar, too, has condemned him. “The AIIMS will be in Jammu first is a provocative statement,” Sagar said while attacking Jitendra Singh, adding that his statement didn’t go well with the Kashmiri people.
The FCIK was more critical of Jitendra Singh as compared to Sagar. Its president Muhammad Ashraf Mir said, “It is unfortunate that the Minister has given such an irresponsible statement and has resorted to regional and communal politics to remain in limelight”. He also accused the Minister of “politicising” establishment of the AIIMS in Kashmir.
It bears recalling that on 4th June Jitendra Singh had stated in Jammu that the AIIMS will be established first in Jammu. “I say with assertion that AIIMS will be established in Jammu before it is set up in any other part of the State,” he had said. It was this statement of his that evoked a very sharp reaction from Kashmir. It seems that his critics in Kashmir didn’t see another statement of Jitendra Singh, which he made just three hours later in Srinagar. The MoS had realised that he didn’t make a right statement in Jammu, as the AIIMS was actually sanctioned for Kashmir, and not for Jammu.
Rectifying his mistake, Jitendra Singh told reporters in Srinagar that the AIIMS had been given to Kashmir and what he wanted was that Jammu should also be given a similar institute. “He favours that AIIMS should also be given to Jammu as the institute is given to Kashmir Valley for the better healthcare facilities,” he said.The statement of Jitendra Singh was as unambiguous as it was crystal clear, but, mercifully, his statement escaped the attention of his Kashmiri critics, despite the fact that it was given an extensive coverage. The fact of the matter is that both the statements of Jitendra Singh appeared the same day, but his anti-Jammu critics in Kashmir chose to ignore his Srinagar statement and take serious note of his Jammu statement.
The members of the AIIMS Coordination Committee have been describing his Jammu statement on the AIIMS as an attempt calculated to causing “confusion” in Jammu and “puncture” the ongoing mass movement in the province. The charge of the Coordination Committee appeared well-founded, as a number of “senior BJP leaders”, according to some top Coordination Committee members, “approached them and asked them to end the agitation because the MoS in the PMO had already announced that the AIIMS will be first established in Jammu”. “The BJP’s whole objective was to scuttle the already announced candle light protest march in Jammu on June 5th,” sources close to the AIIMS Coordination Committee informed this correspondent. It’s a different story that the alert Coordination Committee members didn’t walk into the BJP trap and ensured that the candle light protest march became a massive affair like the shutdowns of April 24 and May 27.
The candle light protest march was a successful affair with thousands of people, cutting across party lines, participated in it ignoring restrictions like imposition of Section 144 all across the city and the prevailing uncertain conditions because of the imposition of curfew in parts of Jammu. It became a massive affair despite the fact that “some BJP rumour mongers and vested interests” tried their level best to convince the people of Jammu that “there will be no candle light march on June 5 because Jitendra Singh had announced AIIMS for Jammu”. The candle light march was the third loud and clear message that the people of Jammu meant business and that they shall achieve their objective at any cost. The threat for an “indefinite shutdown” in Jammu needs to be viewed in this context.
Now that Jitendra Singh has set the record straight by saying that the AIIMS has been given to Kashmir and that the BJP also wants an AIIMS for Jammu, his critics in the Valley would do well to revise their opinion about him. Their attack on the Minister is simply unwarranted. He deserves bouquets from Kashmir, not brickbats for setting the record straight.
