Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU Nov 2: Provincial President National Conference Devender Singh Rana today blamed BJP for putting the time tested unity of Jammu and Kashmir at peril by inciting regional passions and creating wedge between different segments of society on religious lines.
“We are at the cross roads of history, as divisiveness and intolerance have touched all time low and dangerous proportions in the otherwise homogeneous and tolerant state”, Mr Rana said while welcoming a former BJP functionary Sanjeev Gupta into the party fold at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan here this afternoon.
Mr Rana lamented over the machinations of BJP in fragmenting the society into bits and pieces in conjunction with the PDP, which he termed as other face of the same coin. The role of the two parties’ pre and post 2014 Assembly elections has been intriguing, as both worked for strengthening their respective constituencies by opposing each other to the hilt.
“That was a pre-planned strategy devised in Nagpur to garner support for as many as seats possible by bringing people of the three regions and various religions eye-ball to eye-ball situation”, he said and described the recent polls to Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Leh as extension of that strategy.
The Provincial President described functioning of the coalition as deceptive, saying while they were adopting contrarian posturing on various key issues publicly, privately they were furthering each others’ interests even by putting the unity of the state at stake. “This trend is needed to be reversed by eschewing tendencies of hatred and intolerance”, he added.
Mr Rana cautioned the workers to guard against divisive tactics of the opportunistic PDP-BJP alliance and generate awareness about these among the masses so that unity does not become causality.
He also made a mention of the situation arisen in the wake of High Court verdict on reservation in promotions for reserved categories in the State and urged the Government to go for appeal in a higher court. He said the case is needed to be pursued by engaging best available legal assistance.
Mr Rana said empowerment of the weaker sections is imperative for healthy growth of society besides enlarging the role of Scheduled Caste and other reserved categories in decision making.
State Vice President and former minister, Syed Mushtaq Ahmed described National Conference as a strong fort which guarantees the honour, dignity and unity of Jammu and Kashmir.
Central Secretary Th Rachpal Singh exhorted the party workers to close their ranks and foil the attempts of divisive forces, which were hell bent to disturb the peace achieved by sustained efforts of the Omar led government.
State Vice President Rattan Lal Gupta exuded confidence that joining of dedicated and public-spirited workers will help in ending the prevailing political uncertainty and leading the state to progress.
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