Early Times Report
JAMMU, June 22: The people of Jammu voted for the BJP in the 2014 general and Assembly elections in large numbers and with great enthusiasm. As a result, the BJP won both the Lok Sabha seats and 25 assembly seats in Jammu with huge margin. The people of Jammu voted for it under the misguided notion that it would give Jammu the status it deserved in the polity, end discrimination with it, redress the grievances of refugees of all varieties and work religiously for the complete integration of the state into India. But nothing of this sort happened. Instead, it betrayed Jammu again, again and yet again in a most brazen manner. To be more exact, the story of the BJP's rule is story of betrayals.
Hina Bhat Effect
It may appear ridiculous, but it is a fact that the BJP started betraying Jammu even before contesting the assembly elections. The case in point is the induction of Hina Bhat of Kashmir in the party in October-November 2014. Immediately after joining the BJP, Hina declared in Stinagar that "she would be the first to pick up gun in case the BJP repealed Article 370". She even claimed that there would be no reference to Article 370 in the BJP election manifesto. She proved right. The BJP had got its election manifesto prepared, approved and printed, but it was not released to the press as it contained a paragraph on Article 370. (Prof Hari Om, then Political Advisor to state BJP President Jugal Kishore Sharma had prepared the election manifesto.) Instead, the BJP hurriedly got prepared what it called "Vision Document", which was without any vision. It abandoned its "One Flag and One Constitution" age-old slogan and everything it had stood for after 1952.
Still, the BJP won as it was destined to win. People were against Congress, NC and PDP and, hence, they voted not for the BJP, but for PM Modi. The BJP won 25 seats but there was a lesson in this victory for it. The BJP got only 22.5% votes as against its tally of 32.5 per cent votes in May 2014 during the Lok Sabha polls. This was Hina Bhat Effect and Jammu's anger against it.
Marginalized Jammu
for no real power
It was hoped that the BJP would learn lesson as its vote-share had declined by a whopping 10% and do something positive for Jammu to regain the lost ground, but again it didn't happen. It signed an anti-India, anti-Jammu and anti-Ladakh agenda of alliance and bartered its ideology to stitch an unholy alliance with the pro-self-rule, pro-Pakistan and militant-friendly Kashmir-based PDP. The BJP surrendered everything - the office of CM for full tem of six years to the PDP; portfolios of Home, Finance, Revenue, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, General Administration Department, Education, Tourism, Information and Technology and what not; even plenipotentiary powers (power to facilitate dialogue between India and Pakistan); to mention only a few. No wonder, the people dismissed the addenda of alliance as "document of subversion" and "another rivet in the chain of slavery of Jammu and Ladakh".
They also described the BJP's entry into the PDP led government an "act of betrayal of national interest". The reason was the statement of late Mufti Sayeed in the presence of PM Modi on March 1, 2015 at Jammu University's General Zorawar Stadium: "The credit for the peaceful conduct of the assembly elections goes to Pakistan and PoJK-based terror outfits," said Mufti after taking the oath of office and secrecy. Mufti said: "I had to put this fact on record". The BJP should have walked out of the coalition then and there, but it didn't do that much to the chagrin of the outraged nation.
Service Tax on chopper service
to Holy Hindu Shrines
The PDP-BJP's one of the first gifts to the people of Jammu was the imposition of 12.5% service tax on chopper service to Hindu Holy Shrines, including Mata Vaishno Devi and Baba Amarnath. The people of Jammu termed it as "Jizya". Even national spokesperson of the Congress Abhishek Manu Singhvi termed as imposition of "Jizya" on Hindus. The people in Jammu protested again and again, but it was not withdrawn, despite the assurances given by some BJP national leaders, the then J&K Dy CM Nirmal Singh, and even by some RSS leaders. The then PDP leader and Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu declared that he will not withdraw the service tax, thus outraging the sensitivities of the people of Jammu, nay the whole nation, and the BJP meekly surrendering to retain control over insignificant deports, including PDD, Forest, PHE and Health, all without any political patronage and considerable funds. The point is that the BJP lost its face.
RSS-BJP affiliated Law
Officers fired
As if the imposition of Service Tax on chopper service to holy places was not enough to outrage the religious sensitivities of the devotees of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi and Baba Amarnath, the PDP-BJP Government fired two law officers, Additional Advocate General and Deputy Advocate General - Vishal Sharma and Seth. Their fault was that they urged the J&K High Court to order implementation of the already existing cow-killing and beef-eating laws. Their pleadings were upheld by the High Court, which issued directions to the concerned authorities to implement the relevant laws in letter and spirit. But it was not to be. Both were summarily dismissed. The people protested, but the BJP remained indifferent. Naturally, the outraged people accused the BJP of betraying them for the sake of loaves and fishes of office. (To be continued) |
