J&K should remain a UT because minorities of Poonch suffered a lot before 2019, says youth activist to LOP Sunil Sharma; Poonch-Rajouri is an important part of the Jammu region

J&K should remain a UT because minorities of Poonch suffered a lot before 2019, says youth activist to LOP Sunil Sharma; Poonch-Rajouri is an important part of the Jammu region

SALIL RAINA

(POONCH TODAY NEWS)

POONCH: The leader of the opposition in the J&K assembly and senior BJP leader Sunil Sharma, who was on his visit to Poonch the other day to expose the failures of Omar Abdullah’s led coalition government, had to face a tough situation in the premises of Dak Bungalow Poonch when some internal security issues were raised before him.

LOP Sunil Sharma, who wanted to listen to the grievances of the people of Poonch from youth and prominent citizens from different sections of the society, was stunned when some youth activists belonging to minority communities spoke in plain speech about the internal security concerns of the minorities. One of the youth activists, namely Dr Sukhwinder Singh, said that before the abrogation of temporary Articles 370 and 35-A, minority communities suffered a lot, as huge injustice was done to the people of the minority communities of Poonch in every area of life. Dr Sukhwinder said, “Huge anti-minority activities took place in Surankote, Mendhar, Poonch city and nearby villages, where minority communities were harassed through posters to leave their places, as anti-national elements always want minorities to migrate from Poonch.” The youth activist further said that a religious saint was murdered in the Dhundak area of Surankote some years ago with the only agenda to harass the minorities to leave the area. Dr Sukhwinder further said that on the one hand, martyr Aurangzeb sacrificed his life for the nation but never surrendered before militants, and on the other hand, the Kashmir based political forces always targeted the minorities of Poonch for years. The country needs Ashfaqulla Khan, Bhagat Singh, and Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, like nationalist forces. He further said, “A few years ago, a powerful grenade was thrown on a temple at Surankote and near Sh Dashnami Akhara Poonch during Sh Budha Amarnath yatra days to create panic among the minorities. The majority of government and private lands were secretly and forcibly transferred to Auqaf and related institutions under a hidden agenda to force the migration of minorities from Poonch.” Dr Sukhwinder Singh further stated that more and more episodes of torturing the minorities were carried out for several decades, but innocent minorities were left with no option but to pass those years in utter frustration. “From a development point of view, Poonch city never got its due share because the politics of Poonch mostly remained Mandi-centric. We demand the creation of a separate assembly seat for Poonch by cutting the area from Mandi. J&K should remain a UT, and it should not become a state, else the minorities in Poonch will face Kashmiri-like consequences, where Kashmiri Pandits were tortured, killed, and thrown out of the valley. The government should either make a separate Jammu state with Poonch and Rajouri as its traditional utmost part or not give statehood to J&K back, as it should remain a UT because the minorities of Poonch and Rajouri are safe only if they have a direct link with the MHA. If the government gives statehood to the entire J&K, then the future of minorities in the Poonch and Rajouri districts would be in danger” Dr Sukhwinder said.  In addition to these sensitive issues, other youth activists also raised the issue of alternate power transmission lines through the 400 kV transmission line that goes towards Srinagar from Buffliaz; the construction of the circular road; the medical college; and other important issues were brought to the notice of LOP Sunil Sharma, who was accompanied by Ex-MLC Pardeep Sharma and Poonch BJP president S. Gurdeep Singh. After listening to the grievances of Poonch people, LOP Sunil Sharma said that genuine issues will be brought to the notice of the union government. But at the same time, LOP Sunil Sharma wasted no opportunity in targeting the National Conference Government in J&K. He said that the government has failed on all the fronts, and only a BJP-led government in J&K can provide justice to all the sections of the society. LOP Sunil Sharma assured full support to the people of Poonch and said that people from every section of the society will be treated equally and there would be no injustice with anybody.