Jammu, Sep 08: Senior BJP leader Devender Singh Rana on Friday said the post-Article 370 abrogation era has rekindled hope and paved the way for this region to play an equal role in decision-making and governance of Jammu and Kashmir. He said this has ended the “decades-old spell of deprivation, discrimination and ignominy”.
“The delimitation of legislative constituencies is a big stride towards political empowerment of the Union Territory in general and the Jammu region in particular, with marginalised segments like displaced persons of POJK, Paharis, Gujjars and Bakerwals getting a sense of belonging in the overall political structure, heretofore the entitlement of chosen few,” Rana said while interacting with media persons on the sidelines of the weekly public hearing at the BJP headquarters at Trikuta Nagar here along with Veenu Khanna, BJP State Secretary.
He blamed the Congress for degrading Jammu politically “to the extent of playing second fiddle to the elite class of politicians who did not spare even the vast mass of Kashmiris, least to speak of respecting the aspirations of this region”.
“Exploiting religious and regional sentiments as per political expediencies has been their fort to remain glued to power. While the Congress presided over the subjugation of the Jammu region, the valley-centric parties all along ignored the then two regions of Jammu and Ladakh just for having no base or stakes outside Kashmir,” he said, adding that he kept raising his voice for the legitimate cause of Jammu during those gloomy times.
The BJP leader said he will continue to work for the betterment and fulfilment of aspirations of the people of Jammu region in the larger ambit of carving out ‘Naya J&K’ as per the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said the Union Territory is in the making of a real jewel in the crown of India with peace and normalcy dawning and bringing glory to the valley.
The past four years of post Article 370 repeal have witnessed a huge transformation taking place with tourist footfall breaking earlier and making new records, thus bringing cheer in the lives of the people, not only across the Valley but also the Jammu region too, he said.
He referred to a fillip in Jammu’s economy due to the influx of record pilgrim arrivals for onward journey to Shri Amarnathji Cave Shine on the Kashmir Himalayas during the just concluded pilgrimage. “The stone-throwing and hartal culture has been taken over by humming tourism and economic activities. This has obviously rattled the power-lorn political actors, who had been thriving on miseries and agonies of their own brethren,” he said, adding that there was “death and destruction” between 2009 and 2018 in particular.
