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| Vested interests denying democratic rights to people of J&K: Harsh Dev | | |  Early Times Report
JAMMU, Nov 25: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) held a massive protest outside Nirvachan Bhawan Jammu against the continuance of proxy rule in J&K and denial of democratic govt in the erstwhile state for the last four years. The protestors led by Mr. Harsh Dev Singh, Former Minister and Chairman AAP J&K State Co-ordination Committee held the BJP-ECI nexus responsible for delaying and denying elections in J&K. They raised slogans of "BJP govt Hai Hai", "Modi-Shah Hai Hai", "ECI Hai Hai", "Jammu Kashmir mein Jamhooriyat bahal karo, bahal karo" and so on.
Alleging subversion of democracy and denial of popular govt in J&K, Mr. Singh said that BJP led govt was inventing one excuse after the other to deny democratic rights to the people of erstwhile state and to continue its proxy rule through backdoor. He said that while no initiative had been taken to restore popular rule in J&K, the govt in the UT seemed to have been outsourced to bureaucrats mostly from outside the state, having hardly any connect with the general masses who were suffering for even the basic amenities. The silence of GoI and ECI over J&K while announcing Elections for HP and Gujarat amply revealed the intentions of the centre which seemed hell bent to continue its indirect rule in J&K through these bureaucrats. He said that with the political process having been rendered defunct in the new UT, political parties discredited and discouraged and opposition parties suppressed, the democracy had been reduced to a farce in J&K which had eventually given rise to present tensions in the valley and elsewhere in J&K. So much so that even the post of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) was deliberately kept vacant and remained unfilled for the last around 3 months, asserted Mr. Singh.
Maintaining that legitimate, elected govt. alone could deal with obsequious challenges posed by the rogue nation, Singh questioned the rationale behind repeated postponement of Assembly Elections in J&K. Strongly condemning the escalation in militancy related activists, he called upon the centre to initiate political process in J&K and ensure restoration of popular rule in the erstwhile state at the earliest. Rather than suppressing the main-stream political parties, these should be encouraged and taken into confidence for restoration of normalcy in the UT. Remember, the proxy rule through outside bureaucrats was not the solution to the woes afflicting J&K. The Advisors and bureaucrats had hardly any access to the general public who were feeling alienated. An elected govt therefore alone, in view of its accessibility and proximity with the common masses, could enlist their support in fighting cross border terrorism exported by the hostile neighbour. Questioning the rationale behind repeated postponement of Assembly Elections, Mr. Singh said that vested interests in the present bureaucracy were among the biggest stumbling blocks in restoration of democratic govt in J&K.
Singh said that the Election Commission had earlier taken a call for simultaneous polls of Assembly and Parliament which however did not materialize due to the interference by one political party. ECI later issued a statement on 4th June, 2019 stating therein that the EC "after the conduct of Amarnath Yatra will announce the election schedule for the conduct of Assembly Elections in J&K", revealed Singh adding that it too turned out to be a damp squib. He reminisced that during the visit of the Full Election Commission headed by CEC to J&K in February, 2019 all political parties except BJP had favoured Assembly Elections in J&K in April-May, 2019. He regretted that the said Elections were avoided at the behest of BJP alone to keep the ruling party in good humour. Likewise, statements of early Assembly polls were issued by the central govt, Governor and the Lt. Governor of J&K also, which too created only cynicism amongst the masses in view of the frequency with which they were made and then forgotten.
Yash Paul Kundal while pointing towards the euphoria created post Article 370 abrogation in the name of fresh Delimitation of Assembly constituencies said that it too had petered out as hardly any progress had been achieved in ensuring the restoration of popular rule in J&K.
Asserting that a people's govt alone could fulfil the aspirations of the general masses, Kundal sought early restoration of democracy by putting an end to proxy rule imposed by the centre in J&K.
Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Mehraj-ul-Malik, Gagan Pratap, Parshotam Parihar, Rampaul Sharma, Amit Kapoor, Capt.(rtd) Sultan Singh, Lovelu Sambyal, Rajiv Mahajan, Raj Mohd Salaria, M.P. Singh, Jeevan Jyoti, Surat Singh, S.Gurmeet Singh, Sukhjit Singh, Bodh Raj Sharma, Satpaul Singh besides others. |
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