Traders, JKNPP observe bandh in Jammu to protest BJP’s policies

A partial shutdown was observed in Jammu on Monday against the policies of the BJP-PDP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir. Spearheaded by the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) and J&K National Panthers Party (JKNPP), the bandh witnessed participation from several other political and community outfits.

The streets in affected neighbourhoods wore a deserted look as locals chose to stay indoors. Public transport stayed off the roads. Most businesses and educational institutions remained shut.

The protesting JCCI members demanded abolition of state toll tax on goods at the Lakhanpur inter-state border between Punjab and J&K, uninterrupted power supply and more incentives to industries through alternate mechanisms. The protestors are claiming that state revenue has gone up since the implementation of GST.

Their other demands included acquiring land for setting up an AIIMS in Vijaypur, institution of a high-level inquiry into the artificial lake project on Tawi river-- part of BJP’s state election manifesto -- and a state holiday on the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh on September 23.

Further, the protesting traders dubbed Rohingya Muslims as a demographic threat and demanded that they be deported.

As many as 5,700 Rohingya Muslims live in Jammu and Samba districts of the state. CM Mehbooba Mufti had told the Assembly in January that no Rohingyas had been found to be involved with militancy.

Commenting on the bandh, JCCI president Rakesh Gupta said,”All of the 25 BJP MLAs from Jammu have surrendered to Kashmir-centric parties. Drunk on power, they are neglecting the unemployed youth of Jammu, small traders and the local tourism potential.”

“We had blind faith in the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. During his recent visit to the state, we informed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh that BJP ministers have failed to fulfil poll promises. We also took up the issue of Rohingyas, who are a threat to Jammu’s security, with him,” Gupta added.

He warned of a longer indefinite strike after the Navratra festivities if the demands weren’t met.

Voicing similar economic grievances as their counterparts in Jammu, the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), however, differed on the issue of Rohingya refugees as they took a more humanitarian stand.

“We also oppose the demand for a state holiday on the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh. KCCI feels that the state has already notified 24 days as holidays and there is a need for reviewing and reducing the existing list of holidays. Keeping in view the Durbar Move and other holidays, we are left with very few working days,” the KCCI said in a press statement.

“As apex trade bodies, we should seek to promote the resolution of problems through dialogue and not be seen as promoters of business interruptions,” it added.

The JKNPP, which supported the shutdown call and held a protest rally, has been campaigning for a separate Jammu state and been holding Haq-insaaf yatra in the region.

During the protest, party workers and leaders burnt tyres at Dogra Chowk and shouted anti-government slogans over the alleged failure in addressing basic issues of Jammu province.

The newly elected JKNPP state president, Balwant Singh Mankotia, said: “People of Jammu region are fed up of false promises. The time to carve out a separate Jammu state is now and here.”

“In the last three years, only 10 per cent of the candidates selected by the State Public Service Commission belong to Jammu region. Deliberate attempts are being made to keep deserving Jammu youth from getting government jobs in the state,” Mankotia noted.

He claimed that Kashmiri candidates took a lion’s share of government jobs in the state, despite the unrest and violence the Valley experiences every year which disrupts functioning of educational institutions.

Claiming that discrimination with the Jammu region was on the rise, JKNPP chairman Hash Dev Singh said, “BJP ministers have no moral right to continue. Public resentment against the saffron party is growing by each and every day.”