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| BJP made no 'formal attempt' to seek revocation of controversial order | | Tax on Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrimage | | Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Sept 15: The 'concern' shown by BJP leaders against the tax imposed on Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrimage has been so poor that they did not even bother to write a formal protest letter to the Government.
Sources in the Chief Minister's Secretariat and the office of Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu, who imposed tax on the pilgrimage, said they were yet to receive any formal correspondence from the BJP leadership in protest against the September 2 order.
"Since the Government has not received any formal request or memorandum from them (BJP), there's no chance of getting the orders revoked," said a senior official in the Civil Secretariat, asking not to be named.
He said that going by "official protocol and convention", the BJP which had verbally objected to imposition of the service tax was duty bound to come up with a strong case in writing before the Government.
"It could have been a detailed memorandum seeking the revocation of orders on legal and logical points for upholding of communal harmony in the State. But the fact remains that they didn't even file a chit before the Government," the official said.
This has exposed the BJP on two fronts. One, the party voted to power by Jammu people has shown its callousness towards the sensitive issue concerning sentiments of millions of devotees. Two, it speaks of inexperience which the party leadership is often accused of.
"This is height of ignorance and lack of experience on the part of the party that it doesn't even know how to approach the Government for revocation of orders," said the official, adding that the "inexperience of BJP Ministers has become a laughingstock in the Civil Secretariat."
Officials said the BJP shouldn't have confined the condemnation to lip-service. "It amounts to nothing but gupshap. Sensitive issues demand sensitive response, which is missing."
A BJP spokesman however said there was no need for any formal correspondence as the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh has verbally picked up the issue with the Chief Minister and the Finance Minister.
"The final call has to be taken by the Finance Minister," said the spokesman Khalid Jehangir.
As already reported by Early Times, J&K is the only State where the Government has imposed tax on religious duty. Other states and even the Central Government offer subsidies.
The State Government has imposed service tax on the pilgrimage to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine along with all other commercial chopper services of the State. While the imposition of this tax is uncalled for, the decision exposes the dirty underbelly of the politics in the State, where coalition partner BJP, voted to power by Jammu region, has often been seen compromising to remain in power.
The Governments elsewhere, in other Indian states, or even the Central Government for that matter, have been upholding the tradition of offering subsidies to various pilgrimages. From Hindus to Muslims and people of other faiths, almost all reap benefits of such subsidies. While financial assistance is already offered for Hajj, Mansarovar and Mukthinath pilgrimages, the Government has even funded pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
But Haseeb Drabu is reluctant to revoke the orders. By defending his decision to impose service tax, which has been dubbed as "jazya" by some BJP leaders, Drabu seems to have cut BJP leaders to their size in the coalition Government. |
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