Jammu : Harsh Dev Singh NPP Chairman and MLA has admonished the state govt. for its haughty and supercilious claims made in the electronic as well as press media of having brought the situation in the state under control notwithstanding the highly explosive and volatile situating prevailing in the state. He said that with curfew having been clamped in almost all districts including tehsils of Jammu region, caught in the inferno of communal tensions, the statement of the govt. was highly absurd and ridiculous.
He said equally farcical and ludicrous was the announcement of the govt. to pay a compensation of Rs 2 lacs for the total loss of property and dwelling/commercial units of the aggrieved victims. He said the public anger against state govt. had not subsided despite the resignation of MoS Home as their faith in the present dispensation had been completely shaken. He rebuked the govt. for curbing the civil liberties of people by continued curfew restrictions with no relaxation even to enable the people to procure the requirements of day to day use. Expressing grave concern over the exacerbating violence despite imposition of curfew, Mr. Singh alleged that the govt. had become a facilitator in the process of destruction due to its complacence and in-efficiency.
Mr. Harsh Dev Singh said that the govt. was answerable and accountable for serious lapses on its part which have led to escalations of tensions in the entire state quite reminiscent of 2008 violence. He said that the inaction of the govt. to act on time in Kishtwar and allowing sufficient time to saboteurs has been solely responsible for the pilferage of fire from one part of the state to other. He said that a conspiracy to create communal divide on the eve of elections can’t be ruled out and needs to be thoroughly probed by a time bound judicial enquiry into the matter. He said it was required to be ascertained as to whether the incident was accidental or a pre-meditated and well planned one, conceived at much higher level.
Expressing concern over the highly explosive situation, Mr. Singh said that any mishandling of the same could endanger communal harmony and security of the entire state. He said that present govt. has utterly failed on all fronts including law and order and general governance and sought it dismissal by invoking Sec 92 of the state constitution. He said that a govt. which can’t protect lives and properties of people and which is running on the strength of prohibitory orders and curfews has no right to continue and needs to be dismissed.
Flaying the govt. for repeated impositions of curfews to run the affairs of the state, Mr. Singh said that it had failed to create an atmosphere of trust and confidence in the state. He said that clamping of curfews was no answer to public unrest and the govt. should rather take measures to win over the confidence of the different sections of society with its seriousness and pragmatic approach. He rebuked the coalition partners who were perpetually making statements against Army and other Para military forces thus creating an atmosphere of mistrust and uncertainty. He said that slogans like revocation of AFSPA and withdrawal of troops had dampened the morales of the nationalist forces and provoked and encouraged those who were pursuing separatist and anti-national agenda. Appealing the people to maintain communal harmony and brotherhood at all costs, Mr. Singh said that the age old traditions of peaceful co-existence must be maintained at all costs.