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| Will BJP ensure withdrawal of the communal decision? | | 'Jazya' tax on Vaishno Devi pilgrimage | | Early Times Report
jammu, Sept 7: The provocative and communally-motivated decision of Finance Minister, Haseeb Drabu, to impose 12.5 per cent tax on heli-tickets for Shri MataVaishno Devi pilgrims, has been condemned by one and all in Jammu. Even the NC and the Congress have condemned the decision and demanded its rollback. They have termed this decision as "most unfortunate and highly unjustified" and said it would "hurt the religious sentiments" of the Hindu community across the globe. They are absolutely right.
On the other hands, the devotees of Mata Vaishno Devi have described as "Jazya" the imposition of 12.5 per cent tax on heli-tickets and urged the PDP-BJP coalition Government to withdraw the decision, saying "Jammu & Kashmir is not an Islamic State Governed by Aurangzeb". "We are not living in medieval ages when the fanatic rulers like Aurangzeb would impose Jazya on the Hindus. We are living in democratic India. Withdraw the decision forthwith," said many a devotees of Mata Vaishno Devi on Sunday, and added that "they will create a situation in the region that would force the anti-Hindu Government to withdraw the decision". They didn't attack the Finance Minister; they attacked the BJP, saying "the BJP is responsible for all that has been happening in the state". "We know the nature of Kashmiri leadership. We are also fully aware of their ideology and attitude towards the religious sentiments of the non-believers. We were expecting a fair deal from the BJP, which has not been happening," they said.
Convinced that the decision of the Finance Minister would create additional problems for the already under attack the BJP, its chief spokesperson on Sunday also made common cause with the devotees of Mata Vaishno Devi and described as "bad" the decision of the Government. "The decision taken to impose service tax is without taking view of coalition partner and prior consultation should have been done with BJP before taking decision on such sensitive issue. Such like decisions should be avoided in future for smooth functioning of the coalition in the State, which is effectively providing equal opportunities of development and progress to all regions of the State. Remedial measures to withdraw notification should be done immediately before damage is done," he said.
The BJP committed two wrongs. One, it again made a false claim that the people of Jammu region were getting equal opportunities with the people of Kashmir, which is not the case. The truth is that the plight of the people of Jammu region was never so pathetic as it has been since March 2015, when the BJP became part of the Government after surrendering almost everything, including AIIMS, to Kashmir. Two, it, instead of coming out of the Government to demonstrate its pro-Jammu and secular credentials, adopted the line which the opposition parties like the Congress and the NC adopted while opposing the imposition of 12.5 per cent tax on heli-tickets.
The BJP needs to rectify its mistakes and it can do so by admitting that the BJP has failed Jammu on all fronts and by holding out a clear warning that it would play the role of opposition in case the Finance Minister didn't withdraw forthwith the decision. If it doesn't do that, it shall be presumed that the BJP was also a party to the outrageous decision. The ball is in the BJP's court. |
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