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| Cong criticising BJP and its own govt on the same issue | | Neglect Of Jammu | | Neha
Jammu, Feb 27: What has gone wrong with the Jammu-based Congress MLAs? They are criticising the BJP and their own government on the same issue: The neglect of Jammu province and the state government's discriminatory policies. This is not an overstatement. This is a statement of fact based on what transpired in the assembly on February 24 and 25.
On February 24, BJP MLA from Jammu East assembly constituency tore into the state government in general and Jammu-based Congress ministers in particular and accused them of perpetrating injustice after injustice on the people of Jammu province. Participating in debate on Motion of Thanks to the Governor's Address, Ashok Khajuria, inter-alia, said: "The ruling coalition partners are playing dubious role. They are knee deep involved in corruption. The Congress has been playing mischievous politics. Sometimes it supports the PDP and sometimes the NC to become a partner in the government. The Congress is perpetrating injustice on Jammu region. The government has failed to give rights to the refugees from West Pakistan and PoK refugees. Rs. 356 crore have been raised for Dal lake, while not even a single penny has been given to Mansar and Surinsar lakes. There should be three separate budgets, one each for Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Any failure on the part of the government to concede this demand would force the BJP to demand separation from Kashmir".
The Congress MLAs from Jammu province should have supported the BJP MLA. For, he had only highlighted the issue of Jammu's neglect and demanded something which, if conceded, would have ended discrimination with Jammu province to an extent. But they didn't. On the contrary, they, including Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, Abdul Majid Wani, Mohammad Sharief Niaz, Indu Pawar and Krishan Chand Bhagat, criticised Ashok Khajuria. Saroori was more critical. He countered Khajuria and said the "Congress has always treated entire Jammu and Kashmir as one unit and given Jammu its due share".
It may appear ludicrous, but it is a fact that the same day in the same legislative assembly Saroori, who represents Inderwal constituency, took on the state government and ministers for ignoring the erstwhile Doda district. (The erstwhile Doda district was trifurcated in 2007 into Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts.) Lashing out at the NC-Congress coalition government, he said: "The heavy snowfall has caused massive damages in the erstwhile Doda district. More than 100 houses have got damaged and thousands of cattle heads perished. From a village entire population has been shifted to the school buildings and they have been facing lots of problems in the absence of ration and other basic amenities. But none from the official machinery visited the affected areas to assess the losses, which is pre-requisite for preparation of compensation cases…Even none of the ministers found it appropriate to visit the erstwhile Doda district and this shows the approach of the government towards this area. This is unfortunate and not tolerable…Why discrimination with erstwhile Doda district?"
Saroori was not the only Congress MLA who accused the NC-Congress coalition government of ignoring the erstwhile Doda district. Abdul Majid Wani also took on the state government and charged it with ignoring the erstwhile Doda district. He, on February 25, among other things, said: "The Governor's address is the reflection of government's performance and future planning, but there is no reference to the people in the address who kept the democracy alive in the state. The people of the far-flung areas, who despite facing many odds came out of their houses to cast their vote to strengthen democracy in the state, were altogether ignored in the Governor's address. This document should have reflected the aspirations of the people of far- flung areas…Why is there no mention of Sudh Mahadev, Kapran and Wailoo tunnel to link Kashmir Valley with rest of the country? Why is there not any mention about the Doda district in it. Doda has been totally ignored in promotion of tourism and his demand for setting up of a Degree College for Marmat, which has a population of 50,000, has not been accepted till date…" He made these statements while participating in debate on Motion of Thanks to the Governor's Address.
It was strange that while the Congress MLAs took on Ashok Khajuria for his invaluable suggestion that there should be three separate budgets for as many regions to end discrimination with the people of Jammu province, they criticised the state government for overlooking the needs and requirements of the people of the erstwhile Doda district. Had the BJP and the Congress MLAS, plus the NPP and JSM MLAs, made common cause with each and fought as one man for the cause of Jammu province, things would have been somewhat different. Since the Congress MLAs opposed the BJP MLA, they simply helped the anti-Jammu elements to ignore them and their legitimate demands and concerns. They need to refashion their approach. The best thing for them to do would be to behave like the ministers and legislators from Kashmir behave. In this lies the salvation. There is no other alternative. |
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