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| Minority Sikhs' scathing attack on NC-Cong Govt | | Mass Contact Programme | | Rustam
JAMMU, Jan 27: All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) headed by Jagmohan Singh Raina is up against the NC-Congress coalition Government and if the Saturday statement of the chairman of the APSCC was any indication, then it can be said that the confrontation between the Sikhs and the Government is inevitable. On Saturday, Raina stated that the Sikh community was unhappy with the State Government as it had neglected the minority community and that it was "now in constant touch with members of other communities so that a joint strategy is evolved to fight for their rights".
The entire community in the state will be brought under a single umbrella so that the demands were put forth in a forceful and strong manner, he said, adding that he, along with members of community, will visit different areas in order to bring awareness among the Sikh voters as both the Parliament and Assembly elections are round the corner. "I am in touch with leaders of other minorities, including Christians and Buddhists to decide upon a joint strategy in the forthcoming elections. The all important issue of granting minority status to Sikhs and others can be put in more effectively if a joint voice is raised in this regard. After the Delhi Assembly elections it has been proved that true power lies with the common man and the vote he casts in the polls," he said, and warned that the present dispensation of state consisting of Congress and National Conference should learn a lesson from the results of recent Delhi elections, where the common man uprooted the Congress after its failure to govern the people, failing which these parties would suffer the kind of defeat the Congress suffered in Delhi. "The same probability cannot be ruled out in Jammu and Kashmir as the State Government has been indifferent to the genuine demands of people more so belonging to the minority communities".
The fundamental grouse of the APSCC was that the minority Sikh community had been fighting for minority status since years but the State Government had not considered their demand and that even the intervention of President of India and the Prime Minister failed to move the ruling elite in the state. "Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir for the past many years have been advocating for extending the National Minorities Act to the state. Once this Act would have been extended to Jammu and Kashmir all the demands of minorities would have been met. Communities like Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and more recently Jains have been granted the status of minorities at the national level but not at the state level. This is due to non-application of National Minorities Act to Jammu and Kashmir," he said, adding that "Sikhs in the state feel neglected and discriminated".
Jagmohan Singh Raina was highly critical of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and accused him of not considering the demands of the Sikh community. "In 2010, a Sikh delegation comprising of NC Sikh leader and MLC Dharamveer Singh Oberoi met the Chief Minister and presented their demands. The Chief Minister remarked that he would have to do a lot of homework, like his school days, before taking a decision on the Sikh issues. Willful silence of the Government shows his least concern towards the issues of minority," the APSCC chairman said. He also declared that as part of his "Mass Contact Programme", he would meet all the important leaders of the minority communities and create a situation that helps them to obtain the minority community status. The Sikh community has several other demands and some of them include appointment of Punjabi teachers in colleges in Kashmir, protection against the fanatics who want the minority community to renounce their religion, fool-proof protection of the minority community in Kashmir and adequate share in the service sector. The demands of the community are genuine by any standard.
One thing is clear: The NC-Congress coalition will not consider the demands of the Sikh community, as its whole approach is narrow and sectarian. If the Sikh community and communities like Gujjars and Bakerwals are really interested in their empowerment, they have no other option but to join hands with the critics of Article 370. It is Article 370 that is the root cause of all the troubles facing the state and all the social groups, without any exception. They should realize that had there been no Article 370, they would have obtained the minority community status long back without any struggle whatsoever. The fact of the matter is that leaders like Jagmohan Singh Raina are responsible for not providing a right kind of leadership to the community. It bears recalling that only last month Jagmohan Singh Raina had defended special status for the state. How could such a leader fight for his community when he defends that Article which has ruined the state and its people? |
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