Jammu, Jan 27: Apni Party has strongly condemned the Jammu Municipal Corporation’s unilateral action against the shopkeepers in Gandhi Nagar.
The Apni Party leaders comprising President, Apni Trade Union, Ajaz Kazmi, Vice President, Women Wing, Neelam Gupta, and Senior Vice President District, Jammu, Vaibhav Mattoo, and District Publicity Secretary Vishal Jotshi visited Gandhi Nagar and met the victim shopkeepers.
During their visit, Ajaz Kazmi expressed serious concern over the anti-encroachment drive of JMC in which they sealed some goods, and damaged pavements, the party said in a statement.
“When the Smart City Project was implemented and the developmental work was initiated and the markets were brought into shape in Gandhi Nagar that time too the officials did not raise any objection to what they have demolished today,” Kazmi said while extending support to the business community who have faced an axe from the JMC.
Neelam Gupta, the Apni Party senior leader, also met the shopkeepers and extended support on behalf of the party. “The JMC’s action is unjustified. Such actions would demoralize the business community instead of encouraging them for commercial activities,” Gupta said.
She said that the party stands with them and if it is required, the party leaders will join the shopkeepers to protest the JMC’s drive against the business community in Gandhi Nagar.
Meanwhile, Vaibhav Mattoo also cautioned the JMC officials to avoid such actions in future and consult the businessmen/their associations before taking such actions.
In a separate statement, the Apni Party Spokesperson and General Secretary Youth Abhay Bakaya said numerous families faced displacement as their structures were demolished without any warning in ward number 71 at Asrarabad, Gulshan Nagar in Sidra by the authorities.
He said the residents had been living in Sidhra for over two decades and had constructed their homes during this time. He highlighted the severe weather conditions in Jammu, stressing that women and children were left suffering under the open sky due to the untimely eviction.
“These people are the victims, not the accused. Therefore, the authorities should have acted in a properly planned manner to prevent the displacement of innocent residents after their houses/structures were removed,” Bakaya asserted.
While acknowledging that some structures were on state or JDA land, Bakaya insisted that the government should have provided alternative housing or rehabilitation under various central government schemes before proceeding with the demolition.
Bakaya underscored the need for Lt Governor Manoj Sinha’s intervention to ensure the rehabilitation of displaced persons to suitable locations.
