Naib Tehsildar recruitment : NC stirring unnecessary Urdu controversy: Dr Abhijeet Jasrotia

Jammu, Jul 07: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson for Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Abhijeet Jasrotia on Monday accused the ruling National Conference (NC) of fueling an unnecessary controversy around the Urdu language in the context of Naib Tehsildar recruitment.Addressing a press conference here, Dr Jasrotia, accompanied by Media Incharge Dr Pardeep Mahotra and Dr Makson Tikoo, termed the issue as politically motivated and aimed at misleading the youth of Jammu and Kashmir. “Urdu is a sister language of Hindi, and both have deep roots in Bharat. The attempt to portray it as an exclusive cultural identity is misleading,” he said.He pointed out that during NC’s own tenure, the first recruitment rules for Naib Tehsildars in 1973 did not mandate Urdu as a compulsory qualification. “For three decades, this remained unchanged. It was only in 2003 when two parties — one responsible for the partition of Bharat and the other infamously involved in the Amarnath land row — joined hands and planted the seeds of division,” he said.The BJP spokesperson said the clause making Urdu mandatory was kept in abeyance again in 2009 during another coalition regime involving the NC. He demanded an explanation from NC on why it is reigniting this controversy now.“NC should explain to the youth why they are diverting attention from their unfulfilled promise of providing 1 lakh government jobs, which they mentioned in their very first manifesto,” Dr Jasrotia said, adding that the party is creating confusion among innocent aspirants at a time when digitalisation of land records has made such criteria irrelevant.“If knowledge of Urdu is mandatory for Naib Tehsildars, then what about other key officials of the land revenue department like DCs, ACRs, and Revenue Secretaries?” he asked.The spokesperson recalled that the BJP was the first to raise concern over this issue. “Party President Sat Sharma ji and Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma ji were the first to meet LG Manoj Sinha. I too followed up personally, after which BJYM took to the streets demanding justice for youth,” he added.Highlighting the inclusive concerns, Dr Jasrotia said the issue of Urdu is not only a hurdle for Jammu aspirants but also for youth from the Kashmir region.Taking a dig at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, he said, “Omar Sahib’s love for Urdu seems superficial. His Twitter handle is in English. If he truly respects Urdu, he should switch his account to Urdu. Otherwise, Abraham Lincoln was right when he said — you can’t fool all the people all the time.”