BJP as Kashmir- centric as Cong was - Early Times Newspaper Jammu Kashmir

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BJP as Kashmir- centric as Cong was

Jammu again discriminated against

4/10/2015 10:06:12 AM

Early Times Report
JAMMU, Apr 9: The BJP contested the last assembly elections on planks some of which were Jammu-specific. It had given the people of Jammu region to understand that it would end discrimination with them and hand down a government to the state that would treat all the three regions equally and not make any unjust and invidious distinction between regions and castes and communities. It now appears that it had only fooled and misled the people of Jammu region and that the BJP is as Kashmir-centric as the Congress was. The concerned sections of society in Jammu have naturally condemned the BJP and accused it of "betraying them" and "harming the country's sovereign interests".
"It is worse than the Congress. It is not just Kashmir-centric. It is also Pakistan and militant friendly. The BJP, Pakistan and Hurriyat are in the same bed. We committed a serious mistake by pinning faith in the BJP and electing its 25 candidates to the assembly. We are paying the price for trusting the deceitful BJP and its leadership. First, it ignored Jammu, handed over everything to the Valley on a platter and transferred the promised AIIMS to Kashmir, and now it is perpetrating one more injustice on them in a most brazen manner," they have said, adding that "they will not forgive the BJP for the kind of shabby treatment it has been according to them since March 1". It was on March 1 that the coalition government was formed in Jammu and Kashmir.
What made the people of Jammu region condemn the BJP was the latest decision of the BJP-led NDA Government to set up two out of three proposed Engineer Territorial Army (TA) units in Kashmir Valley overlooking the fact that the unemployment rate in Jammu region is alarming. "Army will raise three Engineer Territorial Army units in Jammu and Kashmir soon and Government of India has already sanctioned these units for the state," PRO Defence, Northern Command, Colonel S D Goswami said on Wednesday, adding that "two of these units will be raised for Kashmir and one for Jammu Region" and that "the TA is part of the regular Indian Army".
According to official statistics, the unemployment rate in Jammu region is nearly 70 per cent and in Kashmir it is less than 30. The people of Jammu region, who have suffered discrimination during the past 67 years, were expecting that the BJP would adopt a positive attitude towards them considering the fact that they constituted its core and most trusted constituency, but what has happened is to the contrary. "Something has gone wrong with the BJP and it is being controlled and guided by anti-Jammu elements like Ram Madhav" is the general perception in Jammu region. And perception matters. It was this kind of perception that led to the massive defeat of the NC and the Congress in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections. And it is this perception that will ensure the fall of the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir. But the BJP in its desperate bid to appease the communal forces in the Valley is not realizing the implications of what it has been doing to weaken the people of Jammu region, the nation's backbone in the state.
As mentioned, Army will set up three Engineer Territorial Army Units in Jammu and Kashmir. Reports suggested that the recruitment process for 1200 vacancies will begin soon. The present role of the TA is to "relieve the Regular Army from static duties and assist civil administration in dealing with natural calamities and maintenance of essential services in situations where life of the communities is affected or the security of the country is threatened, and to provide units for the Regular Army as and when required". The Territorial Army in India is an organization of volunteers who receive military training for a few days in a year so that "in case of an emergency they can be mobilized for the defence" of the country.

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