Jammu, Aug 17: A joint delegation of the Sikh community and PoJK on Thursday called on Apni Party Senior Vice President Ghulam Hassan Mir here and demanded the reservation of two Legislative Assembly seats both in Jammu as well as in Kashmir to empower the community which is spread across the erstwhile state. They also demanded that the Punjabi language should be made one of the official languages in Jammu and Kashmir saying this language is spoken by all the communities.
The delegation was led by Provincial President Jammu, Women Wing, Pavneet Kour. Apni Party Provincial President, Jammu, S. Manjit Singh was also present in the meeting with the Sikh community’s delegation.
“The rich cultural heritage and written history in the Punjabi language must be preserved, protected, and promoted by the J&K government,” they demanded.
The delegation was also accompanied by President PoJK DPs Gurdev Singh Thakur who highlighted their issues like the release of the pending installment of financial package to the respective refugee families by the government.
“Many refugee families have not received package amount from the authorities although it was released following sanction by then Union government,” Thakur told Mir. He also demanded that the refugees should be given proprietary rights on the land/properties they are holding for decades.
Mir assured them that he would highlight their demands before the concerned authorities, and the demands would also be included in the Apni Party’s manifesto. “We will continue to struggle for the genuine demands of the Sikh Community, and PoJK DPs/refugees,” the Apni Party leader said.
Manjit Singh on the occasion said, “I am also the victim of the political disparity. The fight for the upliftment of the community and PoJK will continue.” “Apni Party will continue its fight for the genuine demands of the Sikh and PoJK people as they suffered because of their political, social, and educational negligence,” he assured.
He said that the Punjabi language has an unforgettable role in J&K. Therefore, the glory of the Punjabi language must be restored by recognizing it as one of the official languages in J&K, he added.
