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| Jammu seething with anger | | List of BJP betrayals is very long -- II | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, June 23: Vande Mataram Cognizable Offence: The story of BJP's betrayals took an ugly turn when the Poonch administration issued an order declaring chanting of Vande Mataram a cognizable offence. It issued this obnoxious order when the Buddha Amarnath Yatra was in full swing. The yatris were enthusiastic and they chanted "Bharat Mein Yadi Rehna Hoga, Vande Mataram Kehna Hoga". They did raise this slogan in Pakistan; they raised this slogan in J&K, an integral part of India. But the slogan didn't go down well with the PDP-BJP Government and the result was the order that declared the slogan a cognizable offence. Many were booked. People protested against the Mufti Government in general and the BJP in particular, but nothing came out. The BJP sided with the administration and left the yatris in the lurch.
Hoisting of national flag
an act of provocation
The worst happened at Srinagar's National Institute of Technology (NIT). India won cricket match against Pakistan. The students, including girl students, from outside the state were jubilant. One of the students hoisted national flag and others joined him to celebrate India's victory. All hell broke loose. Mehbooba's police unleashed a reign of senseless brutalities on them. Many, including girl students, were injured. Their life became a veritable hell on earth. They cried for justice and protection, but with no result. The then BJP Deputy Chief Minister failed them. The BJP ministers abandoned them. The BJP as a party remained indifferent. The victimized and brutalized students migrated from Srinagar wholesale. And instead of assuaging their hurt feelings and lambasting the Mehbooba Mufti's police, BJP national general secretary and in-charge J&K Ram Madhav condemned the poor innocent and nationalist students themselves. He in an interview said: "They had gone there to study and not to play politics". Was hoisting of national flag or celebrating India's victory over Pakistan a political and provocative act? Yes, according to Ram Madhav, it was.
Rohingyas in Jammu
a non issue
The people of Jammu cried for months against the illegal settlement of Rohingyas at sensitive and vital locations, including Railway Station, Airport, under Bridges and Flyovers, Army Camps, Police Camp, on the Jammu's strategic high hills and within the Jammu city itself in different localities, including Trikuta Nagar and Talab Tilo. They held several demonstrations; they organized several dharnas, seminars and meetings; they organized marches and held press conferences to persuade the PDP-BJP government to deport the Rohingyas, saying the very identity of Jammu was in danger; the very national security was under threat; the very demographic character of Jammu was at stake, but the BJP failed them, and failed them miserably. On the one hand, Mehbooba Mufti declared on the floor of the assembly that the "deportation of Rohingyas from Jammu would not be appropriate", the BJP watched all the developments as a mute spectator to save the alliance and four chairs. The then BJP Dy CM Nirmal Singh, chairman of the Caninet Sub-Committee constituted to identify the Rohingyas and suggest steps aimed at deporting them, only once held a meeting and that was all. The point is that the BJP did nothing whatsoever to allay the fears of the people of Jammu, who on occasions more than one termed the BJP's negative attitude as "another act of betrayal of national interest".
NO to minority rights
to minorities
The BJP betrayed the minorities in the state by toeing the line of its coalition partner, PDP. Jammu-based advocate Ankur Sharma approached the Supreme Court hoping that he would succeed in getting minority rights for the minority communities in the state, including Hindus, Sikhs and Jains. But the PDP-BJP coalition Government opposed all his pleas. It engaged top lawyers to defeat the minorities in the state. An affidavit of the PDP-BJP Government said: "Hindus could not be considered a minority" and the "Muslims (who constitute majority in the state) alone shall exercise the minority rights. The BJP took recourse to double-speak. The BJP at national level issued statement after statement that the Union Government was for minority rights to the minorities in the state, but the PDP-BJP Government took a contradictory stand. The stand of the J&K BJP and the state government was condemned by the minorities and the BJP in particular was denounced as a "B-team of the PDP, power-hungry and a party of cheaters". (To be continued) |
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