Parties back KP employees' demands for relocation
Jammu: All major parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including the BJP, have come out openly in support of Kashmiri Pandit and Dogra employees and backed their demands for "relocation" from Kashmir in view of targeted killings by militants and a transfer policy.
The National Conference, PDP, AAP, Apni Party and others criticised the Union territory administration over the "step-motherly treatment and bureaucratic indifference" to the employees sitting on protests for the past eight months.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha's recent remarks that reserved category (Dogra) employees cannot be transferred to Jammu and those (KP employees) sitting at home will not get salaries drew sharp reactions from these parties.
The BJP reacted angrily to Sinha's remarks and said these employees will not be made "sacrificial goats".
The Congress will make it the main issue when its Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi reaches Jammu and Kashmir early next year. The party also plans to hold protests on the issue, its leader Hira Lal Pandita said.
"It is a shameful statement of LG. On the one hand the government is not in a position to provide foolproof security to these employees nor has provided accommodations to them in last over 10 years and on the other hand it is making them scapegoats by forcing them to join their duties in valley where they have no security to their lives," Pandita told.
Reacting to these employees' demands, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi must call an all-party meeting on this issue. Don't make Kashmiri Pandits sacrificial lambs if you can't provide security to them. Kashmiri Pandit employees shouldn't be forced to return and resume duties in the Valley."
Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina told, "We reiterate that we back their demands. We stand firmly by the Kashmiri Pandit and reserved category (Dogra) employees. Come what may, we are with them."
