Panthers Party boycotted Kashmir invitation for not been summoned in Jammu: Harsh

JKNPP protests exclusion of Jammu’s political leadership in APD

STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Infuriated by the decision of the Union and State Governments to invite the political parties to meet the All Party Delegation (APD) in Kashmir only, a battalion of Panther activists staged a massive protest citing the move as an effrontery to the political leadership of Jammu region.
The protesters spearheaded by Harsh Dev Singh, Chairman JKNPP, Balwant Singh Mankotia State President and Yashpal Kundal State President Young Panthers assembled at Exhibition Ground, here and raised anti-government slogans.
Addressing the galaxy of media, Harsh disclosed that the government functionaries had intimated the Panthers Party that the political parties could interact with central delegation only in Kashmir and the meetings in Jammu region were to be held only with the representatives of the civil society as per the itinerary.
He dubbed the outright exclusion of political class as malevolent proposition and alleged the BJP for contemplating such malicious moves to keep the regional political leadership away from the All Party Delegation. Expressing dismay over the State government’s invitation to NPP for meeting the All Party Delegation in the valley, Harsh said it defied logic to invite the political leadership of Jammu to place the concerns and issues of Dogra land before the central delegation in Kashmir valley rather than Jammu itself. He divulged that Panthers Party had its genesis in Jammu region but felt extremely anguished for not been summoned to meet the APD in Jammu on 5th September by the government authorities. He regretted that whereas the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir made several telephonic calls besides written invitation to Panthers Party for the meeting in Kashmir, the Divisional Commissioner Jammu refused to even respond to the repeated calls from the party.
Exhorting the government to review the decision regarding the ignorance of political parties and NPP in particular during Jammu visit of the said delegation on 5th September, Harsh maintained that it would otherwise be deemed and perceived as another obnoxious bid to subjugate Jammu Pradesh which had been socio-politically disparaged and persistently discriminated since independence.
He said that Panthers Party in a resolution had decided to boycott Kashmir’s invitation to meet the central delegation for not been summoned in Jammu.
Singh revealed that the deliberate move to ignore NPP was aimed to create a false notion that Jammu did not have a political leadership and the nucleus of power remained in Kashmir.
He further added that it would also ironically vindicate the statement of the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti that Jammu had failed to produce any political leader.
He said that this was not only disrespect to the Dogra electorate but strangulation of the essence of democracy.
Mankotia and Kundal said that it was Panthers Party which had adjured the Union Home Minister earlier in Srinagar besides several pleas that all the delegations touring J and K State must visit Jammu as well in addition to Kashmir. They said that while the demand had been conceded, the purpose had been defeated.
NPP leaders asserted that since JKNPP alone was the recognized political party based in Jammu, it should be granted audience with the all party delegation in Jammu on 5th so that the issues and concerns of this region were eloquently projected on Jammu soil itself.
Prominent among those present on the occasion included Bansi Lal Sharma, Rajesh Padgotra, Paramjeet Marshall, Gagan Pratap, Advocate Vilakshan Singh, Nirmal Kishore, Satvir, Desh Rattan Pandita, Rajeshwar Singh, Arun Khajuria, Arun Kumar, Ajeet Sharma, Purshottam Parihar, Neeraj Gupta, Sanjeev Verma, Mohinder Singh, Vishav Singh, Ashfaq Rana, Abdul Gani, Mohd. Shafi, Vipan Verma, Kewal Krishan, Narinder Sharma and Rajesh Verma.