Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 29: Apni Party held a peaceful protest demonstration here today demanding reservation of two Legislative Assembly seats for Sikh community in Jammu and Kashmir.
The protest was organized by Provincial President, Jammu, Women Wing, Pavneet Kaur alongwith District President Jammu Rural-B Adv Harpreet Singh, Provincial President, Youth Wing Jammu, Vipul Bali, Provincial President Transport Union, Tirath Singh.
The protesters shouted slogans in favour of their demands i.e, reservation of two Legislative Assembly Seats for the Sikh community.
“The community has remained neglected regarding their political representation in Govt and Legislative Assembly while priority was given to other communities,” said Pavneet Kour while speaking at the protest site.
She said that the Sikhs form a large chunk of population who have contributed to the society as well as J&K and the nation incomparably in defence, police, administration, social works and education system but the community was not given preference by the Govts.
“The community has a history of contribution and defending the borders of the country, but when it comes to their political representation or reservation of seats for them in both the regions, they face discrimination that needs to be addressed before it is too late,” she said.
Meanwhile, District President Rural-B Harpreet Singh also expressed concern over the discriminatory approach towards the Sikh community and demanded recognizing the Punjabi language as one of the official languages in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Punjabi language is being spoken across Jammu plains and parts of Kashmir valley with no barrier of caste or community or region. It has rich cultural value and written historical records with reference to J&K during Maharaja times that needs to be considered by recognizing the language as one of official languages in J&K,” he said.
The Punjabi speaking people’s work and their heritage must be recognized by the Govt, he said and added that “We are not against anyone being given anything, but Sikhs should be given political reservation. Thus, two Legislative Assembly seats must be reserved for them,” he added.
District President Women Wing Jammu, Ritu Pandita, District Vice President Youth Wing, Abinav Gupta, Dalbir Singh, Mohinder Singh, Yash Pal Choudhary, Taranjeet Singh, Rajinder Singh, Shikha Bhardwaj, Sheetal Rajput, Gurcharan Singh and Darshan Singh were part of the protest.
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