Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Apr 10: Describing the `silence’ of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti over the issue of NIT Srinagar as most surprising, All India Congress Committee general secretary and incharge J&K affairs of the party, Ambika Soni today said that educational institutions should not be used for any kind of political motives.
“Mehbooba Mufti is the Chief Minister of the State and she should have come forward to explain to the people and parents of the NIT students regarding the situation and steps taken by the Government to restore confidence among the students and parents watching the whole situation through electronic media. We are surprised to watch her silence. She is mysteriously missing from the scene and has not uttered even a single word on it while the DyCM from BJP has taken the lead. She should not be afraid of talking to the media on this sensitive issue and own the responsibility of what has happened there in Srinagar,” AICC general secretary told the media persons at the sidelines of Mahila Congress convention here today.
Referring to the NIT issue, AICC leader said, “Congress strongly demands a judicial probe by a sitting High Court judge to investigate the whole episode. All the children who study there, whether local or non-local, are our own. There should not be any difference at all. We only demand an impartial inquiry to investigate the use of brutal force on the students for bringing out truth and instill sense of confidence among the students. The prestigious institutions like NIT Srinagar, JNU etc should not be used for any kind of undue political motives,” Ms Soni maintained.
When asked who should be held responsible for NIT episode, the Congress leader said, “Obviously the ruling coalition should be held responsible for it. It could have been avoided if the effective measures would have been taken from the very beginning. The mishandling of the situation by the NIT authorities and inaction on the part of ruling regime has worsened the situation. The students are terrorized and their parents are worried. It is the responsibility of the Government to bring out facts as the probe ordered by them is not acceptable to the Congress as it is just an eye-wash,” she added.
Questioning the BJP and PDP as to what transpired between the two parties for about three months after the demise of Mufti Mohd Sayeed which led to the change of their hearts without anything new in the public domain, Ms Soni said the two parties need to explain to the people if there is any secret understanding or any deal under the carpet. She questioned the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as to what happened to their slogan of preventing Baap-Beti (PDP) from coming to power, which exposes the political opportunism and lust for power.
Earlier, addressing the Mahila Congress convention Ambika Soni said that BJP Govt at the Centre has indulged in worst kind of anti-democratic campaign of destabilizing and dismissing the duly elected Congress Governments in the States like Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh after the BJP realized that its dream project of ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’ can not be achieved. She charged the BJP national president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi with resorting to undemocratic act of destabilizing elected Governments in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh and imposing President’s rule. She said that such acts of BJP amount of murder of democracy. It has exposed the BJP which often speaks of very high principles, Ms Soni maintained.
Reiterating the commitment of the Congress party to have adequate share of women in every sphere of life, Ms Soni said that it was Congress which formulated policies in the Country for their upliftment and to ensure them participation right from Panchayats to Parliament and the party would continue to strive in this direction. She expressed satisfaction that the 73rd amendment was incorporated in the State laws to fulfill dream of Congress party especially Late Rajiv Gandhi which has ensured 33% reservation to the women for Panch and Sarpanches elections besides the ULBs.
She expressed concern over the continued incidents of violence against women in various parts of the country and said that more effective steps are needed to check such incidents and ensure safety and security of women. Lashing out at the divisive politics of BJP in the country, she asked the party workers to defeat such designs and not allow the people to be misled by the false propagandas of BJP, as after it failed to fulfill the single promise during elections, the BJP is harping on other issues to divert the attention of the people from their failures.
Earlier, PCC chief GA Mir in his address asked the Mahila Congress workers to name the single promise fulfilled by the Modi Government during its 23 month rule to which the gathering responded in loud ‘no’. He accused BJP and PM Narindra Modi of assuring people to bring black money back from foreign banks and transfer Rs 15 lakhs to the account of the people but instead those who looted the tax payers money were facilitated and allowed to flee from country. He referred to the ration situation in the State which has forced people especially women to come on roads on daily basis.
State Mahila president Indu Pawar (Ex-MLA ) welcomed the AICC general secretary. She said that Mahila Congress workers would leave no stone unturned to expose the failure of the Modi Govt and the unholy alliance of PDP -BJP in the State.
The prominent leaders who were present included Sham Lal Sharma, Rigzin Jora, Raman Bhalla, Ravinder Sharma, Namrata Sharma, Rajnish Sharma, Manmohan Singh, Zahida Khan, Jai Singh, Rajni Bala, Parveen S. Khan, Anuradha Andotra, Santosh Sharma, Vandana Makhnotra, Suman Choudhry, Reeta Kumari, Prabha Slathia, Geeta Dogra, Sushma Choudhary besides others.
Meanwhile, AICC general secretary also addressed the PCC executive and discussed the organization matters with regard to the forth coming Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies elections in the State. Ms Soni also listened to the grievances of the PCC members and asked the cadre to work unitedly for strengthening party at grass root level. She said party during previous elections has reduced to 12 from 17 seats in J&K while NC reached to 15 from 28. There is gap of merely five seats and the Congress lost about half a dozen seats with a narrow margin. It will again come to power in next elections as the people have been fed up of the policies of BJP and PDP. Both have betrayed the people from Kashmir and Jammu regions and the people have now made up mind to teach them a lesson, Ms Soni maintained.
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