news details |
|
|
| The forgotten Singhal Committee Report | | Jammu Youth & Jammu Leadership | | Neha
JAMMU, Jan 25: On April 7, 1998, the government of Farooq Abdullah set up a three-member committee vide Government Order No. 442-GAD of 1998, dated April 7, 1998, to look into the complaint of the Jammu youth that they were denied their due share in the medical colleges by the Competent Authority and make appropriate recommendations for consideration of the state government. Former Chairman of Central Board of Secondary Education Professor R P Singhal was made the chairman of the committee and Director, Centre for New Literature, Jammu University, Professor D K Rampal and Professor A K Kidwai of Aligarh Muslim University, its members. Prof Rampal joined the committee as third member in November 1998.
The alarmed and clueless state government set up this committee under pressure from the agitating Jammu youth, who were ably backed by one and all in Jammu province. They started agitation on February 28 and the agitation continued up to May 7, when an agreement was signed between the state Chief Secretary Ashok Jaitley and the agitating students in the office chamber of the then Vice-Chancellor of Jammu University, Prof R R Sharma. In between, Jammu observed 17-day-long continuous bandh, the longest-ever shutdown Jammu province observed before 2008. The educational institutions did not function for more than two months. Jammu also witnessed umpteen clashes between the protesting student community and its supporters drawn from all walks of life and the police. Hundreds of students were arrested and injured, some of them fatally. Students sat on fast-unto-death and this continued in front of the GGM Science College for days together. The police lifted some of them forcibly and admitted them to the Government Medical College to save their life. The lawyers also boycotted courts for several weeks. The participation of girl students was on a massive scale. The fact of the matter is that the student community, ably backed by all sections of society, had brought the state government to their knees.
Such was the nature and magnitude of the agitation that Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had to seek the intervention of Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani. Advani failed to help him as the protesting student community was determined to obtain what they wanted. A section of the BJP leadership did try its level best to sabotage the movement for reasons best known to it, but miserably failed. The BJP leadership was isolated and rebuffed. It stood thoroughly exposed. Convinced that the amenable section of the BJP and similar other anti-Jammu elements were of little use, Farooq Abdullah's government not only enacted the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University and the Agricultural University Acts but also set up the three-member committee to look into the complaints of the agitating student community and review rules governing admission to the technical and professional institutions. The demands of the protesting students were three: Establishment of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University at Katra, establishment of Agricultural University at R S Pura and proper representation in the technical and professional institutions or a fair admission policy. Had Farooq Abdullah not taken these steps, his government would have surely collapsed.
After the signing of the agreement Farooq Abdullah, according to Professor R R Sharma, said: "Hats off to the teachers of Jammu University; they got the things they wanted; they are not a purchasable commodity". It bears recalling that Professor O P Sharma, the then Head of Economic Department, Professor Hari Om, the then Head of History Department and Professor Virender Gupta of Physics Department were part of the movement. They had put at stake everything, even their jobs, and guided and controlled the movement, which was started by JJSF leader Rajinder Singh Jamwal and his very committed colleagues, including Zorawar Singh, Ajatshatru Singh. Professors Sharma and Om also funded the movement to the extent they could. They, according to very reliable sources, "spent Rs one lakh from their own pocket". (To be concluded) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
