Mail

Discrimination with Jammu

Sir,

I am referring to the article of Prof. Virender Gupta published in your paper on 13th of March and the comments of Mr. P S Sahi on March 22. I had the privilege of having a discussion with some of the professors of the University regarding this subject. Mr. Sahi is perhaps not aware of the policy of the Central Government from the time when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India. He (Rajiv Gandhi) said that the intellectuals should be encouraged for entering into politics and such officials who when elected as MLA or MP shall betreated on leave for the period he occupies that post and have a option to draw the pay of this previous posting or of a MLA/MP. This policy stands adopted by the University of J&K also. To criticise any one without knowing the facts does not suit a person. None of the so-called secular leaders of Kashmir have suffered on account of their families and have rather well established their children either in service or in politics. Is it not a fact that Jammu region is being deprived of its due share in every field? Does Mr. Sahi have any answer for the following few points for the information of the general public to supplement his claim.

Jammu region having an area of 26.29 kilometers against 15.95 km of Kashmir with almost equal population have only 37 representatives in Legislative Assembly whereas Kashmir has 46. The Lok Sabha representation is also two against three. The three new districts of Jammu although recommended by the Wazir Commission in 1978 have not been carved yet. Whereas new districts of Kapwara, Badgam and Palwama were given effect only by issuing an administrative order.

From 1965 to 1991, only 1306 kms of roads were constructed in Jammu region as compared to 3825 kms in Kashmir.

Why there are only 2 Secretaries from Jammu province as against total of 35 in the J&K Secretariat.?

Why the selection of students in professional and technical institution has been reduced to almost 20 percent from Jammu region from 45 to 55 percent. Does that mean that the capability of Kashmiri students has improved with the Onset of militancy and the students of Jammu region diminished.

Why the agriculture and ayurvedic colleges existing in Jammu have been closed by the Govt. and Dental college sanctioned for Jammu was set up in Kashmir?

Why all the head offices of about 13 corporations are been located in Kashmir?

About 90 percent of tourism budget is spent in Kashmir every year although the terrorists coming to Jammu region were 300 times more than that in Kashmir. These are the few facts among lot of others which forces the Jammuites to feel that they are being discriminated. If not given serious thought, it shall further alienate us for generations to come. Mr. Sahi may not feel the pulse but it is a fact that Jammu people are sitting on a volcano of discontentment and Govt. should amend its policies so as to finish the discrimination faced by the people of Jammu region.

Yours etc...
Er. B M Kohli
Indira Vihar.

Role of Opposition

Sir,

If we wish to draw a parallel between the role of opposition of yesteryears and that of today's we find that it has fallen both in standards and quality. Today's opposition opposes just for the sake of opposition. The recent incidents such as Ayodhya, Gujarat and Poto overwhelmingly expose the intentions of the opposition mainly the Congress. And all three incidents reflected the neck deep level of insanity to which they are ready to sink to garner electoral gains even if at the cost of national interest. As the proposed Shila Daan programme of the VHP was drawing near the entire opposition was busy in arousing susceptibilities for electoral gains. It appears that the Congress party wouldn't eschew the subtle art of diplomacy with which Vajpayee was handling these sensitive issues. And he needs to be praised for solving Ayodhya issue in particular by respecting both religious sentiments and the constitution. If one is asked about the most misused word in English dictionary the reply will be secularism. The Congress continues to rake up issues which are aimed at drawing wedge between the various NDA partners. And most of the times Congress tries to square up the Government on issues pertaining to a particular community. The whole secular brigade was silent when Godhra carnage took place and the so called secular spokespersons started to term the aftermath violence as "State sponsored Genocide".

It is disheartening that the appeasement policy of the Congress has so far not only done a great dis-service to this nation but has resulted in the pathetic situation of the majority community. It is unfortunate that the majority community concerns have always been trampled on by the so-called secular faces in our country and opposition to it gets branded as communal. Why is it that the same majority community has been forced out of their homes to live like refugees in their own mother land. Do these secular politicians have answers as to why majority community is finding it difficult to perform Puja, the basic right of each citizen? There are numerous examples which can be sighted where majority community's interests have been overrun by these leaders only for electoral points and nothing else. We have a right to ask them as to how long we continue to accept humiliation for maintaining secularism. There has to be an end to it somewhere.

Yours etc...
Sudhir Kr. Sharma
Shiv Vihar
Janipura Colony,
Jammu.

Typhoid 'fever

Sir,

For the last three weeks I have come across a number of patients with fever of long duration which, in many cases, has been confirmed after investigations as typhoid fever. However, it does not respond to the drugs or drug combinations normally prescribed for this infection. Blood culture and sensitivity tests reveal sensitivity to some newer, albeit costly, antibiotics.

Most of the patients hail from Subash Nagar and the surrounding localities, pointing to a common source of infection. Since typhoid is one of the water borne diseases it is most likely that the water supply is contaminated with this resistant germ. One need not doubt this possibility in view of large scale leakage of water pipes almost everywhere in Jammu resulting not only in cruel wastage of this precious commodity but also in surface contaminants being sucked into the pipes. This has a potential not only for spreading typhoid but other diseases like hepatitis, infective diarrheas, giardiasis, amoebiasis etc. Some years back we traced an epidemic of hepatitis to water supply contamination in the same localities and the PHE department moved in to rescue the situation.

The rising number of patients of drug-resistant typhoid during the last 3 weeks rings alarm bells of an epidemic.

Before that happens the PHE department should repair all leaking pipes not only in this area but also in the whole city on a war footing and check the major reservoirs of water for any contamination and colony counts. Meanwhile the public is advised to consume boiled and or filtered water.

Yours etc...
Dr. K L Chowdhury