| Under pressure, Jagmohan takes a complete U-turn | | Supporting anti-minority Article 370 | | Neha
JAMMU, Dec 8: The Kashmir-based organization of Sikhs, All-Party Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC), has seemingly taken a complete U-turn and supported the protagonists of Article 370 that has promoted communalism and separation in Kashmir, harmed the national interests and jeopardized the interests not only of Jammu and Ladakh but also of the minority communities, including Kashmiri Sikhs. On Friday, APSCC president Jagmohan Singh Raina issued a statement urging the people cutting across political and religious lines to ensure that Article 370 is not diluted further. In other words, he directly joined hands with those who had been denying the minorities, including the community to which he himself belongs the rights they legitimately deserve, without realizing the implications of what he said in his statement.
He is the same Jagmohan Singh who during the past four months repeatedly attacked the NC and the Congress saying the ruling coalition failed to grant minority status to the Sikh community. In August, he had declared that the APSCC would launch a religious war against those who worked against the interests of the Sikh community and urged the Sikhs across the state not to vote for the ruling coalition. The same month, the APSCC had also submitted a memorandum to the State Governor containing the demands of the Sikh community.
The demands included granting of minority status to the Sikhs as per the National Minorities Act, special employment package for the unemployed Sikh youth, filling up of the vacant posts of lecturers and teachers in the colleges and higher secondary schools in Kashmir Valley, establishment of Punjabi department in Kashmir University, to mention only a few. Besides, he had accused the ruling coalition of turning down the suggestion of the Prime Minister and President of India that the minority status be granted to the Sikhs.
Now that he has supported Article 370, it is time for the Sikh community to take stock of the situation arising out of the Jagmohan Singh's U-turn and evolve a strategy that renders Article 370 irrelevant and empowers it to enjoy the minority status and exercise all the rights available to its counterparts in other parts of the country. The community leaders must sit up to find how Article 370 has adversely impacted the Sikh community in the state. |
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