Over 500 Panthers Party activists led by Harsh Dev Singh, Chairman-JKNPP along with Mr. Yashpaul Kundal, State President, Young Panthers today held a massive demonstration at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi today for immediate issuance of appropriate written orders for establishment of an independent AIIMS institute in Jammu with all 26 faculties and an independent Director. The protestors raising slogans against the BJP, Central government and pro-Jammu slogans marched towards the Parliament where they were restrained by a huge contingent of police and CRPF who put up huge barricades on the road near the Parliament House and stopped them from proceeding further. They resorted to mild lathicharge on the protestors in a bid to disperse them.Addressing the gathering Mr. Harsh Dev Singh lambasted the BJP for playing yet another fraud on the people of Jammu region by simply displaying a highly vague and ambiguous letter on AIIMS purported to have been written by the Union Health Secretary to the Secretary of Health Department, J&K asking the latter for identification of ‘alternate’ sites in both Jammu and Srinagar. He said that said letter nowhere mentions of any order having been issued by the competent authority for establishment of AIIMS in Jammu as well as in Srinagar and neither does it make any mention of the budgetary allocation and allied matters.
Further the use of the word, ‘alternate’ in the letter makes the confusion worst confounded, he added. He further pointed out that the Union Secretary’s letter for identification of sites in Jammu and Srinagar was issued on 4th August, 2015 but on the same day the Union Health Minister made a statement in the Rajya Sabha that only one AIIMS has been sanctioned for J&K. He said that while the Panthers Party would support the ACC on AIIMS, it shall continue to hold protests and demonstrations in Jammu as well as in New Delhi outside the Parliament till an appropriate order for full-fledged AIIMS was duly notified and published in the Gazette of India in conformity with the AIIMS Act, 1956 as amended vide 2012 Amendment Act.Singh said that while the Panthers Party would not question the wisdom of ACC (Coordination Committee on AIIMS) which comprised of intellectuals, educations and other prominent notables in calling off Jammu Bandh and in suspending the agitation in view of the aforesaid communication, the JKNPP did not trust the saffron party which has repeatedly taken U-turns on all its fundamentals only to remain glued to power. He recalled that the BJP Dy. Chief Minister had made a statement in April-May, 2015 carried in various newspapers that nobody can snatch AIIMS from Kashmir.
Castigating the BJP for its duplicity, deceit and double standards, Mr. Singh said that JKNPP decided to hold demonstration in New Delhi to create awareness at the national level regarding the bias perpetuated against Jammu region by the present dispensation of BJP-PDP in J&K. He said that it was not merely a matter of AIIMS for Jammu but the larger question of the self respect and pride of Jammu people. He said that it was highly distressing that Jammu people were always treated as B-class citizens as against highly pampered and mollycoddled Kashmir region. He regretted that people of Jammu region had to agitate and take to streets even for the basic amenities despite having elected representatives to espouse their cause. Lambasting the BJP for its demagoguery and unprincipled politics, Mr. Singh said that by gifting AIIMS originally sanctioned for Jammu to Kashmir, the BJP had indulged in the most treacherous bargain only to play a second fiddle to the PDP government. Mr. Singh said that people of Jammu would no longer reconcile to their second class categorization by a highly biased and prejudiced Kashmir centric leadership. He said that the JKNPP had decided to take the fight for Jammu to every nook and corner of the state besides agitating the persistent neglect of the region in front of the Parliament in New Delhi.
Lambasting the BJP for submitting to the whims of its coalition partner, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh said the saffron party had completely disillusioned the people of Jammu region and earned their wrath for succumbing on all the issues with the public outrage having reached its crescendo. He said that announcement for establishment of AIIMS at Jammu was made by two Union Ministers on 28th February, 2015 at New Delhi and therefore BJP’s offering it to PDP on a platter merely for the crumbs of power was the biggest betrayal with the people of Jammu region. Warning the BJP to desist from its lame duck posturing, Mr. Singh said that JKNPP would not relent till AIIMS was restored to Jammu through a formal order on the subject.Yashpaul Kundal, President, Young Panthers vowed to continue the protests against the shameless surrender of the BJP on all its pre-poll promises including AIIMS issue. He said that Jammu region has a very fragile tertiary health care system and divesting this region of AIIMS would be greatest injustice. He said that Kashmir already has one SKIMS in Soura which offers specialized treatment facilities with Chief Minister already having announced Rs.150 crores additionality for its upgradation. But Jammu region continued to be ignored and deprived in the BJP partnered government and despite the tall claims and loud pronouncements being made by the saffron party merely to hoodwink the people of Jammu region, he added.
Mr. Kundal further sought early creation of infrastructure & operationalization of medical colleges in Kathua, Doda, Rajouri besides establishment of a new medical college at Udhampur.He further sought allocation of adequate funds for the already sanctioned cancer institute at Udhampur.Vilakshan Singh and Mr. Sham Gorkha, Young Panthers Leaders ridiculed the cowardly surrender of BJP on Dogra Certificate, grant of State Subject rights to West Pakistan Refugees and conferment of voting rights upon them. They while demanding AIIMS for Jammu further called for holding an early delimitation of Assembly constituencies so as to ensure equitable share to all the regions of the state on political as well as economic basis. They further demanded relief for victims of natural calamities besides adequate compensation to Jammu Migrants. They regretted the non-release of ex-gratia in favour of Dogra martyrs who lost their lives in the deadly terrorist attack recently in Manipur.
Mr. Rajiv Jolly Khosla assured full support of Delhi Unit of Panthers Party in resolving the issues of J&K and in ensuring justice to Jammu region including its socio-political empowerment.Other who addressed the gathering included Mr. Vilakshan Singh, Mr. Sham Gorkha, S. Pramjit Singh Marshal, Smt. Sudesh Dogra, Ms. Kesar Praveen, Ms. Asha Rani, Mr. Ashok Randhawa, Mr. Ashok Bhagat, Mr. Rajeshwar Singh, Mr. Som Dutt Choudhary, Mr. Desh Rattan, Ms. Jyoti Bhagat, Mr. Dhani Ram Attri, Mr. Kuldip Singh, Mr. Surjit Singh Guleria, Mr. Neeraj Gupta, Mr. Anil Rakwal, Mr. A.J. Rajan, Mehfooz Khan, Mr. Rangil Singh, Mohd. Faheem, Mr. Ravinder Pandita, Mr. Keerat Dev Singh and others.