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| Jammu may replicate 1998 in 2015 | | Struggle for AIIMS | |
Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 22: A fierce controversy is raging across Jammu region over the questionable decision of the PDP-BJP coalition government to establish the sanctioned All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Kashmir. The people of Jammu region were clearly given to understand by the Union Government on February 28 that the proposed AIIMS will be established in Jammu and Kashmir will get two other institutes - Indian Institute of technology and Indian Institute of Management.
The decision of the PDP-BJP coalition government that reversed the original decision has shocked the people of Jammu region cutting across political lines and the result is widespread discontent in the region, which is backward, under-developed and which is being treated by New Delhi and Kashmiri leadership as Kashmir's colony.
The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) has opposed the decision and has been up in arms against the coalition government. It has declared that it would take the struggle for AIIMS to its logical conclusion, come what may. Till date, it has organized several protest demonstrations in different parts of Jammu region, including Jammu city, Kathua, Udhampur, Doda, Ramban, Samba and Vijaypur. It has also held a protest demonstration at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, and submitted a memorandum to the Union government urging it respect its decision, as also to respect the aspirations of the people of Jammu region who are in a dire need for the AIIMS-type institution considering the fact that the medical institutions in the region are in a shambles and the poor people have to go to Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Amritsar for medical treatment.
But more than that, the JKNPP has urged the people of Jammu region to observe bandh on April 24 to lodge a strong protest against the state government's anti-Jammu decision. The call for bandh was given on Tuesday. Its leadership urged the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association (JKHCBA), Jammu, and trader associations to support the call. The JKHCBA has already adopted a resolution supporting the demand in Jammu for an AIIMS-like institute and declared that it would support the Jammu cause. Giving the call for bandh, the JKNPP leadership said: "The region is being again discriminated against and it is matter of concern that AIIMS after having been announced for Jammu is being surrendered to Kashmir by the BJP to appease its coalition partner with whom it is sharing power".
It is not just that the JKNPP is in the forefront. Significantly, the Congress, the NC and a number of smaller groups like Jammu State Morcha, Sikh Unity Forum and many student organizations, including the NSUI, have also upped the ante and urged the state government to withdraw the decision and establish the proposed institute in Jammu.
The situation as it has been developing in Jammu region indicates that things may go out of hand in case remedial measures are not taken before it is too late. There is the possibility of the enraged people of Jammu region replicating 1998 in 2015. In 1998, Jammu witnessed two-month-long massive agitation, including 17-day-long bandh and the result was that the government of Farooq Abdullah, which had been brought to its knees, had to concede the demands in Jammu for the establishment of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University and Agriculture University. It is time for the state government to act so that the situation in Jammu region remains peaceful. |
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