Samba, July 15: The Apni Party on Monday staged a protest demonstration against the granting of additional powers to the Lt Governor in Jammu & Kashmir empowering him in comparison to the elected government.
As per a press release, a protest demonstration was organised in Ramgarh under the leadership of the party’s Provincial President, Jammu, and former minister, S. Manjit Singh.
The protest was organised to express anguish against the Central government widening the ambit of the administrative authority of the Lt Governor in Jammu & Kashmir, following an amendment of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in the Transaction of Business Rules.
“During the protest, the party leaders, and workers shouted slogans against the empowering of the LG and weakening of the elected institutions because of this decision the common masses will suffer,” the party statement said.
Singh said, “How would an elected government in J&K work without authority? That elected government would not be able to work as per the wishes of the people, but they had to depend upon the approval of the LG even in developmental and transfer-related issues in the administration as well as police.”
He said the elected governments with this decision in J&K would be working on crunches of LG. “If the LG will not agree, the government has to step back from the decisions it made. Hence, the empowering of the LG in J&K is fruitless, and it has centralised the government making it helpless with no authority to work for the people,” he said.
The Apni Party leader demanded that the LG’s extra authority should be withdrawn, and the elected government in J&K should be given adequate powers that are being enjoyed in all the states of the country.
He said the statehood restoration is a long pending demand that should be accepted by the Central government. “Ignoring the public grievances would not help the government to work out the problems in J&K. The government should understand that the people of the people in Jammu as well as in Kashmir are equal and they have joined hands to fight for their right to get back constitutional rights of an elected government and launch a struggle for the restoration of full statehood with all powers,” he added.
Earlier, he chaired a meeting of party leaders and workers, who expressed their full faith in the leadership of the Apni Party President Syed Mohammed Altaf Bukhari.
