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| BJP's stand on AIIMS in Jammu is Govt's stand | | Why, then, is this delay? | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, July 27: Ideologue of PDP, Education Minister and spokesperson Jammu & Kashmir Government Naeem Akhtar on Sunday stated in Jammu that the PDP also endorsed the demand in Jammu region seeking establishment of AIIMS. "The PDP fully supports the demand for separate AIIMS in Jammu since J&K is a particular State which needs two such institutes; one in Kashmir and another in Jammu because each region has its own needs," he said while addressing an unofficial function.
Explaining further, Naeem Akhter said that "patients of one region cannot easily move to other part for treatment while Jammu is feasible to cater to the entire State". He only spoke the truth. Jammu is the most suitable place for the location of AIIMS as it is easily and throughout the year accessible. However, the most significant part of his statement read: "Dr Nirmal Singh is not the Deputy Chief Minister of BJP or Jammu region only but the entire State and has the full backing of Chief Minister Mufti Mohd on each issue. Therefore, AIIMS in Jammu is not only the concern of Nirmal Singh or BJP but the State Government". It was a very significant statement. Significant that the PDP came to the rescue of Nirmal Singh, who is in the good books of the Chief Minister for obvious reasons. Nirmal Singh himself said sometime back that the Chief Minister likes the BJP ministers. He and the BJP have been pursuing the PDP line. It is not a secret. Hence, the statement of Naeem Akhtar on the burning issue of AIIMS needs to be viewed in this context.
It was not the first occasion that Naeem Akhtar endorsed the demand for AIIMS in Jammu as was claimed by a section of the media. It was the second occasion when he endorsed the demand and said that what the Deputy Chief Minister had given in writing to the AIIMS Coordination Committee (ACC) was actually the government's stand. It was on July 23 that Naeem Akhar for the first time endorsed the demand.
"Whatever he (Nirmal Singh) had said (about setting up of AIIMS in Jammu region), he said on behalf of the government as a whole and not as a representative of a particular party. Given the tough topographical conditions, every region of the state requires advanced and latest medical facilities. The Jammu region also deserves AIIMS and we fully back the Deputy Chief Minister as he has been asking for separate AIIMS for Jammu on half of the government as a whole and not as a representative of a particular party," Naeem Akhtar had said.
It needs to be underlined that the Deputy Chief Minister and Forest Minister had given a written commitment to the ACC on June 18 that the BJP would obtain an appropriate order on the issue (for which the people of Jammu region had been agitating) latest by July 20. The ACC then withdrew its bandh call and also suspended its chain hunger strike programme. The ACC resumed its suspended agitation on July 21, a day after the deadline. The ACC, people cutting across party lines and non-BJP and non-PDP organizations have all accused the BJP of betraying the trust reposed in it by the people and threatened a mass struggle in Jammu region. As for the ACC, it has given 72-hour-long bandh call from July 31. Besides, it organized Lalkar Rally on July 25 and it has planned candle light protest march on July 29. Earlier, the ACC and its constituent Chambers of Commerce and Industry had organized two massive bandhs on April 24 and May 27 and an impressive candle light protest march on June 5, but the BJP remained unmoved and continued to play with the sentiments of the people who brought the BJP to power in the state for the first time.
The statement of Naeem Akhtar is significant in another sense. Significant because it suggests that the coalition government has realized that if timely action was not taken on the issue, things could assume alarming proportions in the region, which could destabilize the government. It is a fact that an anti-BJP-PDP wave is sweeping the region with people holding protest demonstrations at different places on a daily basis, burning the effigies of Nirmal Singh and the BJP and declaring that they would never trust the BJP and teach it a lesson for its act of betrayal as and when they got an opportunity.
Now that Naeem Akhtar has reiterated that the Deputy Chief Minister's stand is the state government's stand, it is time for the authorities to resolve the issue without losing a moment. Any delay on the part of the state government to announce an AIIMS for Jammu would not only create serious law and order problem in Jammu region but would also bring bad name to the PDP and the BJP coalition government, which has already been under severe criticism for various reasons. The situation as it exists today in Jammu region is highly explosive and what is needed too defuse the developing dangerous situation in the region is an act that makes people of Jammu region feel that there are elements in the establishment who appreciate the genuine demand in Jammu for AIIMS. To salvage the situation, the PDP-BJP coalition government must implement what Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced on the floor of the Lok Sabha on February 28. |
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