Jammu: Anguished over the non implementation, by the erstwhile govts, of the 2008 agreement signed between the Sri Amarnath ji Sangarsh Samiti (SASS), and the then Guv Administration, a battalion of Panther activists led by Harsh Dev Singh Chairman JKNPP and other leaders staged a protest demonstration at Exhibition Ground Jammu today. The peeved protesters while rebuking BJP for disregarding the most significant agreement, despite its election time commitments, urged upon the Governor to implement the pact for providing relief to Jammu based traders, martyrs and suffering youth of 61 days long Amarnath ji land agitation.
Addressing the media, Harsh Dev Singh held both the BJP-PDP and the NC-Congress coalition governments squarely responsible for not implementing the said agreement with the intention to appease the separatists who had literally waged war against the State in the valley during that period. He revealed that the contents of the agreement dated 31st Aug 2008 categorically included the withdrawal of criminal cases against the persons active during the row, provision of ex-gratia relief in favour of the next of the kin of the deceased and compensation to the permanently disabled including the injured in all cases and working out of appropriate packages of financial assistance to compensate losses of the transport sector, trade and industry, horticulture sector, hoteliers and tourist operators.
He regretted that despite the directives issued by the Governor to the previous State government on April 5, 2018 to implement the 2008 agreement reached with SASS and submit a compliance report by April 24, no concrete action on the ground was taken by the BJP partnered dispensation till the given deadline. “Painfully, the govt. remained least bothered over the directives and showed despicable laxity towards addressing the issue which had led to huge economic loss worth thousands of crores and left 14 people dead and several hundred persons injured”, Harsh rued.
Lambasting the previous sinister BJP-PDP alliance for withdrawing the cases against approximately 10000 stone-pelters in Kashmir valley, Harsh Dev Singh said that the erstwhile government was grossly involved in pampering the anti nationals, subversives and miscreants in the valley to tow the secessionist agenda in the State. Moreover, it blatantly announced amnesty for them besides contemplating an obnoxious rehabilitation policy for the surrendered militants with huge premiums and doles but remained callous towards the nationalist youth of Jammu region who were detained during the Amarnath ji land row and still facing trials.
Expressing further his concern for the business community of Jammu Pradesh, Singh divulged that in 2008 the government had agreed to examine their demands in an appropriate manner on time bound basis but the successive coalition govts only gave false assurances and kept them deprived of their legitimate rights until now. “While the valley based traders were reportedly compensated towards their losses by the successive State govts, the Jammu traders were made victims of a regional bias who were put under severe financial burden”, lamented Harsh.