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Jammu discriminated against, Advani tells PM

Source:PTI
August 14, 2008
As Jammu and Kashmir continued to be on the boil, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani alleged on Thursday that the United Progressive Alliance government was lacking seriousness to resolve the problem and accused it of 'discriminating' against Jammu and 'alienating the nationalist opinion.'

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Advani demanded the restoration of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, saying that the state government's decision to cancel the allotment of land is a 'violation' of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court orders and amounts to contempt of court.

Noting that he was writing the letter with a 'deep sense of disappointment', the leader of the opposition said: 'We urge the government to restore the original Cabinet order rather than adopt a do-nothing policy.'

'The court orders need to be complied with. The mandate of the legislation has to be obeyed,' the BJP leader said.

Accusing the UPA government of being 'out of depth' and 'not very serious' to find a solution to the crisis, he contended that the problem in Jammu and Kashmir 'is essentially nationalists versus the separatists.'

Batting for the cause of people of Jammu amid allegations that BJP was behind the agitation for Amarnath land, Advani said the recent events have shown that the people of the region are 'now determined to assert in order to claim their fair share in the matter of both governance and development.'

The BJP leader alleged that the people of Jammu division have 'suffered from gross discrimination' as Census is not fairly and regularly done and delimitation is deferred. 'There is discrimination in the matter of public employment, disbursal of funds and development of region." he said.

'They (people of Jammu) are told on each occasion...if fairness is shown to the people of Jammu, the psyche of the valley will be hurt,' he added.

'There is huge sense of hurt and injury in Indian public opinion which has resulted in the nationalist opinion being alienated because the separatists have to be pleased,' he said, adding 'This is the first time in history that the government has succeeded in even alienating nationalist opinion.'

                                                            Read Advani's complete letter

 

Source: PTI
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