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| Congress, PDP lock horns over disbanding of VDCs | | |
Sanjay Khajuria
Jammu April 20
Continuing to surprise the political parties and the people in general, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has come up with another strange shot and has demanded disbanding of the Village Defence Committees.
The demand came from Mehbooba Mufti the party MP and president, while addressing a public rally at the Kishtwar here on Thursday.
Undoubtedly, the PDP leadership has always surprised the people of state by brushing aside from the conventional and hackneyed slogans like Gareebi Hatao and Roti Kapda aur Makaan but has entered into war of words with Congress as Chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has rejected said demand out rightly.
Azad turned down the said demand while addressing a rally at Sunderbani on Thursday soon after the Mehbooba’s utterances at Kishtwar on the same day.
The demand of disbanding the VDCs has surprised political observers as well as the political parties as Peoples Democratic Party is a Kashmir centric party, where the presence of Village Defence Committees is almost negligible.
It is only in Jammu regions that Village Defence Committees have been constituted and functioning with some measure of success to counter the terrorists.
The reason behind Mehbooba’s demand of disbanding VDCs is perhaps the fact that the party jumped into the political arena in 2002 polls and gained an edge by riding the slogan of “Healing Touch and new version of Surrender Policy.”
The party with just 16 seats turned all political calculations wrong by putting its stakes for the post of chief minister.
Political observers also recall the past, and say that PDP has come up with sensational slogans including a new ‘Surrender policy’, ‘The healing touch,’ ‘Disbanding of the SOG’ and ‘Resumption of traffic on Uri Muzafferbad Road.’
They mentioned that PDP has some how managed to got all this corroborated and feeling encouraged by the weak government at the centre has juggled between the new imported slogans tossed across the frontiers by Pakistan President Pervaiz Mushraff.
In the end, PDP rattled the state politics with more sensational sloganeering and itching to the allies and nationalistic forces in an attempt to remain in centrestage of state and central politics due to ‘Self Rule and Joint Control/ Management of the state.’
Then, it lobbed the demilitarization of state and now another coin of great attraction it tossed is – the disbanding of the VDCs. This not only has created ripples state politics but also made people to ponder what makes PDP to mint out such slogans.
People like, Ajay Sharma a businessman recalled that this party which shuttled out from the main orbit of the Congress, few years ago has tried to remain in the political arena at any cost even by taking people to ride by poignant and sensational slogans. PDP believes in riding on emotional slogans and causing an atmosphere of insecurity and wedge between the people, he said.
Although Ghulam Nabi Azad chief minister of state has countered the Mehbooba’s remarks of disbanding VDCs but how long he remains with his guns of deterrence as Demilitarization was weakened by UPA government by establishing three committees to discuss this issue. What will be the next step of union government on this demand of PDP but people in the remote and hilly reaches are worried for their security and are waiting for centre’s response with their fingers crossed.
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