‘Let’s rise above party politics to mitigate sufferings of people’
“Diwali falls on Amawasya and let the Prime Minister light a lamp to end the darkness of borders, the silence of which is intermittently interrupted by mortal shells and heavy artillery, sending chill among the residents, who are running helter-skelter with women, old, ailing and children for safety”, Rana said while expressing grave concern over the traumatic conditions in which the hapless people were living on LoC and IB.
The Provincial President along with Dr Kamal Arora and State Vice Presidents Rattan Lal Gupta and Th Kashmira Singh spent the day in conuctive extensive visit of the shelling hit villages and hoped that the Prime Minister will see for himself how the State BJP leaders and political executives of the government have virtually abandoned the residents, who are struggling to survive the onslaught. He said the visit will certainly provide an opportunity to Mr Modi to feel the pulse of the people who are anguished over forgetting the promises made by BJP stalwarts from top in the high command down in the state leadership during 2014 parliamentary and assembly elections with regard to provision of five marla plots and reservation for their wards in professional courses and government jobs.
“We are sure the Prime Minister will feel the trauma and agony of the suffering people, whose woes have been added by the bunch of BJP exploiters here”, he said, hoping that Modi will set an example by being with the residents in distress and feel their pain.
He assailed the BJP’s total indifference towards residents of the forward areas at this crucial hour of border crisis and asked where the political executives of Jammu and Kashmir have vanished.
“At a time they should have been with the suffering people, the BJP ministers and leaders, who were making beeline during elections, were not visible anywhere”, Mr Rana said adding that the promises of five marla plots have proved just a hoax like various other commitments they made to people of the Jammu region. “The callousness of the administration towards residents is a classic example of the duplicity and deception of the BJP, which has mastered in exploitation”, he said and cautioned the PDP-BJP coalition to mitigate the miseries of huge chunk of border population spreading over three dozen villages.
Rana expressed solidarity with the border dwellers, who were showing exemplary courage in meeting the challenges unfolded by continuous shelling and prayed for early recovery of the injured. He also conveyed his condolences to bereaved families of the two civilians, who fell causality to the shelling.
The Provincial President said the border skirmishes were no solution to problems and hoped that positive steps would be taken to de-esclate the tension and hostility that is proving hazardous for the villagers along the International Border and Line of Control. “We sincerely hope that the atmosphere of jingoism will be a temporary phase and the two countries would engage themselves in meaningful dialogue”, he said and added that the victims of hostilities have always been the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Rana also expressed anguish over injuries suffered by the personnel of armed forces and paid tributes to martyrs who lost their lives in recent days.
Rana and other senior party leaders called for adequate arrangements, health care and other facilities at the make shift camps for border residents, who were forced to leave their homes and hearths due to intermittent shelling. “The facilities are needed to be made on war-footing basis due to cold nights”, he said and hoped that the administration will not shirk from its responsibilities like it has been doing for the past two and half years.
The NC leaders met the dislocated people at various places and assured that the party shared their agonies and miseries. (KNS)