Poonch city was deliberately ignored for ALC status by successive regimes for their political purposes

Poonch city was deliberately ignored for ALC status by successive regimes for their political purposes

POONCH TODAY NEWS

POONCH: The demand for ALC status for Poonch city was raised time and again for years, but the political regimes, for their political benefits, completely ignored Poonch city from the purview of ALC status. Poonch city, which is hardly two kilometers away in an aerial distance from the LOC, was targeted heavily after Operation Sindoor, in which fourteen persons, including children, lost their lives.

Poonch city was never targeted like this before, but the recent shelling has exposed the poor vision of local leadership and successive state and union governments—they all failed to anticipate the fact that one day, Poonch would be targeted by Pakistan. As the majority of MLAs came from the Mandi area for decades, the concerns of Poonch city were ignored deliberately by the political regimes that ruled the erstwhile state of J&K. Even the successive central government ignored this issue despite repeated concerns shown by some people with a vision. The recent shelling by Pakistan heavily targeted the Poonch city, which shows that the city deserved ALC status. For years, the political class of J&K and successive governments at the center, just for their vote bank politics, kept Poonch city out of the purview of the ALC status. Since the Poonch city had no powerful leaders who could raise this issue strongly, it was shrewd leaders of the ruling class that completely ignored the concerns of the Poonch city deliberately for decades. Now, after this shelling from Pakistan, directly targeting Poonch city, killing fourteen people and injuring many in addition to demolishing properties, it is high time for the J&K UT and Union governments to extend the ALC status to Poonch city. If the government failed to address this growing concern of the people of Poonch city, then it would be a grave injustice to the people of Poonch again, which they have been facing for decades. As the Pakistani shelling played havoc in the Poonch city, it is likely that Pakistan may target Poonch city again, as Operation Sindoor has not finished yet. Poonch city is at high risk from Pakistan, and the government of the day needs to address this concern sooner rather than later. Because any slight delay in granting ALC status to Poonch city will add salt to the wounds of the Poonch people, who are already traumatized.