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| Anti-Jammu forces in Kashmir gang up, oppose call for Jammu bandh | | AIIMS issue | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 24: People of Jammu region cutting across party lines, interestingly including some important BJP office-bearers like chief spokesperson Sunil Sethi, have been agitating against the decision of the PDP-BJP coalition to establish the proposed All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Kashmir instead of Jammu as promised by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. There demand is genuine and grievance against the BJP well-founded. The people of Jammu province are condemning the BJP more than its ally and the issue has brought about unity among all in Jammu to the extent that they all supported the today’s bandh call – the first ever bandh call in Jammu in 65 years against the BJP. It should indicate the extent to which the BJP has become unpopular in Jammu province, which only some four months ago gave it a massive mandate hoping that it would come up to the people’s expectation and work for ending discrimination with Jammu province.
The call for Jammu bandh and the bitter opposition of the people of this province to the BJP have, as expected, not gone down well with the anti-Jammu forces in the Valley. They have all ganged up against Jammu to scuttle its genuine demand. “AIIMS-like institute is dire need of Kashmir in view of increase in patient rush and different ailments. After feeling the need, Government of India (GoI) approved setting up of AIIMS in Kashmir,” Dr Sajad Qazi, General Secretary MFA, was quoted as saying on Thursday. “Setting up of AIIMS in Valley will upgrade healthcare facilities. It will cater to the many far-flung and borders areas, which face neglect. The parties with regional interests and communal agenda have given call for Jammu bandh against setting up of AIIMS in Valley,” he also reportedly said.
Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) spokesperson Dr Mir Mushtaq also opposed the Jammu’s well-founded demand and reportedly said: “Kashmir was overdue for such a type of facility for being at the dead end of the country. The present healthcare facility in valley is not up to the mark and for this reason many patients go outside Valley for treatments…Jammu is connected with railways to all parts of country and it is not case with valley. We won’t allow anybody to do politics on this issue. The bandh call exposes the Kashmir-centric bias of the people who have called for shutdown”.
Not only the doctors’ association, a number of other Srinagar-based anti-Jammu bodies also didn’t lag behind. Kashmir Centre for Social and Development Studies (KCDS) member, Shakeel Qalandar , for example, said “it was unfortunate that parties like NC and Congress are supporting communal agenda of VHP and Bajrang Dal”. “They should come clean over the policy otherwise they would face rejection by people…AIIMS is much needed in Kashmir to cater the increased patient load. Jammu is much advance in healthcare and they can get specialized treatment in AIIMS Delhi and PGI Chandigarh very easily due to easy accessibility,” he reportedly said while opposing the demand in Jammu for the establishment of AIIMS.
Similarly, general secretary of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Kashmir, Mohammad Ashraf, also opposed the Jammu’s demand and condemned the NC and the Congress for extending support to the bandh call. “Congress and NC are stooges of New Delhi and for this reason were supporting anti-Kashmir Bandh call,” he reportedly said, adding that “AIIMS-like institute is our right as per the population and we will scuttle every move to snatch it”. Interestingly, the Jammu and Kashmir high Court Bar association, Jammu, has not only extended its support to the bandh call in Jammu, but also threatened an agitation if the proposed AIIMS is not established in Jammu.
Traders associations in Kashmir too have joined the anti-Jammu crusade. President, Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Association (KTMF), Mohammad Yaseen Khan, reportedly “threatened agitation if government succumbs to the pressure by VHP and Bajrang Dal”. He also accused NC and Congress of adopting “double standards” and charged them with speaking one language in Kashmir and other in Jammu. “They don’t have clear cut policy over issues of public interest,” he said. Khan is also chairman Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA). His whole view was that the “strike called by Jammu chambers can create rift between the business fraternity of the two regions”.
By opposing the demand of Jammu people, vested interests in Kashmir are only further widening the already rather wide gulf between the regions and hastening the process of the state’s disintegration. As for the people of Jammu province, they are determined to achieve their goal like in the past. It is strange that the BJP has abandoned its core constituency for the sake of power and pandering to communal and anti-Jammu forces in the Valley. The BJP is only destroying itself in the state by willfully outraging the sensitivities of its core constituency not only in the state but across the country. |
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