Shiv Sena (UBT) protests, demands special privileges, action against drug abuse

Jammu, Mar 03. Leaders of Shiv Sena (UBT) Jammu and Kashmir unit held a strong protest on Monday, demanding special privileges under Section 371 for Jammu and Kashmir, liquor ban in the “city of temples Jammu” and strict laws on drug and cow smuggling.
Shiv Sainiks, under the leadership of party state head Manish Sahni, gathered at Indira Chowk and staged a protest and raised slogans holding placards with demands like “Strict laws should be implemented on drug and cow smuggling”, “Privileges under Section 371 should be restored”, “Sons of the soil should have the first right on jobs and educational institutions”, etc.
Sahni in his address said that in the last decade, narco terror has created terror in Jammu and Kashmir. “On the other hand, liquor shops opened in every nook and corner of Jammu city are an attack on religious faith and tampering with the future of the youth,” he said.
The Sena leader added, “The statistics of drug abuse and smuggling are also terrifying. In Jammu and Kashmir, which has a population of about 1.25 crore, every tenth person is addicted to some kind of drug. The number of drug addicts coming to de-addiction centres has increased 100 times in the last 5 years. Every 10-15 minutes, a drug addict is reaching the OPD of government hospitals for treatment.”
If timely measures are not taken, then in the coming times, Pakistan-sponsored terror will be replaced by narco-terror, which can wipe out an entire generation, he warned.
Along with this, on the lines of the northeastern states of the country, a proposal has been demanded to be passed to protect the cultural identity of Jammu and Kashmir under Section 371 and to give the local people the first right to get government jobs and admission in educational institutions, Sahni said.
He said that recently the BJP-ruled Uttarakhand government has also banned the purchase of land for people from outside the state. Sahni said BJP MLAs must bring and support a proposal against privileges under Section 371, prohibition of liquor, drug and cow smugglers.
On the occasion, Meenakshi Chhibber, Vikas Bakshi, Bharat Mahajan, Raj Singh, Sukhwinder Kaur, Vicky Sharma, Davinder Kumar, Sunita Kumari, Yashpal Singh etc. were present.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha should take strict cognisance of the increasing criminal incidents in Jammu and fix accountability. “The common man is in panic due to the continuously increasing criminal and theft incidents in Jammu,” he said, adding that increasing drug addiction and drug smuggling is a major reason for the increasing criminal incidents.