Excelsior Correspondent
TRAVA VILLAGE ZERO LINE IB, May 23: National Conference today lashed out at BJP for abandoning people living along International Border and Line of Control in the Jammu region, saying destruction and devastation caused by shelling from across the border has rendered thousands homeless.
“The reported death of an eight year old boy in Samba district, just a day after an eight month child fell to bullets in the Akhnoor Sector speaks of gravity of the situation”, Provincial President Devender Singh Rana, who visited along a delegation of senior leaders to the affected villages, said, adding that words were not enough to describe agony and misery.
He reiterated his demand for providing five marla plots to dwellers of vulnerable areas and reservation in jobs for border youth, lest the National Conference will be forced to launch agitation.
Sr State Vice President and former minister Surjeet Singh Slathia, MLA Dr Kamal Arora and Youth National Conference Provincial President Ajaz Jan were among those comprising the high level party delegation that visited Trava village at the Zero Line besides Arnia, Kul Kala and Salaad villages and met the devastated people.
Rana said the situation is quite volatile and explosive in the wake of continuous shelling and the entire border belt is almost deserted with people, old, ailing, children and women, abandoning their homes and running helter skelter for their lives.
“Where are the BJP leaders, both from the Centre and the State, as also the political executives, who had made promises about five marla plots and reservation for the wards of border people in government jobs before comforting themselves in the cradle of power”, asked Rana, saying nothing is virtually on ground with regard to shelter sheds or bunkers.
He assailed the BJP’s total indifference towards residents of the forward areas from Poonch to Kathua at this crucial hour of crisis and asked where the political exploiters had vanished. He said the callousness of the administration towards residents is a classic example of the BJP’s duplicity and deception, which is reflected in alarming measure in the forward areas.
Interacting with the dislocated people, former minister Surjeet Singh Slathia lamented that the commitment of plots, as also Rs 10 lakhs for construction of safe shelters, has proved just a hoax like various other promises they made to the people of the Jammu region.
He called for adequate arrangements, health care and other facilities at the make shift camps for border residents, who were forced to leave their homes and hearths due to intermittent shelling since the past few days. He sought formulation of a contingency plan to meet the challenges unfolded by shelling besides keeping available mobile medical teams for timely assistance to the suffering people.
Dr Kamal Arora, MLA hit out at the BJP saying hypocrisy of its leaders stand exposed, as they were liberal in making promises but raised hands when it came to delivering.
Ajaz Jan said that YNC workers across the LoC and International Border have been activated to reach out the people in such eventualities so that assistance is provided to the needy.
The National Conference leaders expressed solidarity with the border dwellers, who they said were showing exemplary courage in meeting the challenges unfolded by continuous shelling and prayed for early recovery of the injured.
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