‘Transporters to stay away, Bar with Jammu people’
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 10: Various political parties including National Conference (NC), Apni Party, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), J&K National Panthers Party and other organisations have supported Jammu bandh call given by Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry tomorrow (Mar 11) against the decision of imposing Property Tax by the JKUT Government.
Provincial president of National Conference for Jammu, Rattan Lal Gupta today announced full support of his party to ‘Jammu Bandh’ call given by the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry against the decision of imposition of Property Tax by the Lt Governor led Administration. Asserting that the present dispensation has plunged the J&K UT into mess and chaos, Gupta said that the only solution to end these problems is to hold elections to J&K Assembly at the earliest.
NC leader further said that imposition of Property Tax in the absence of a duly elected government is illegal and against the spirit of democracy. He said that the JKUT Govt has absolutely no mandate to impose taxes on the people. The Property Tax comes within the jurisdiction of the Local Bodies but it is an irony that even the elected representatives in the Local Bodies including the Municipalities, Municipal Councils and Municipal Corporations were not consulted before issuing an order in this regard, he added.
Apni Party Provincial president for Jammu, Manjit Singh has extended support to the Jammu bandh call given by JCCI and Yuva Rajput Sabha against Property Tax on Saturday.
In a statement Singh said that the Jammu bandh call was a compulsion as the Govt had not given heed to the demand of the Jammuites and put additional burden on the pockets of the general masses in J&K. “The property tax was imposed without consulting the elected representatives in an authoritarian manner by the Govt,” he said.
Aam Aadmi Party has also fully supported the Jammu bandh call given by JCCI tomorrow, demanding the repeal of the government’s decision to impose Property Tax.
In a statement issued here by the party, it was said that this is not the right time to impose wealth tax. Attacking the BJP Government at the Centre, the party termed the BJP dispensation as anti-poor and anti-development. The party said that the problems of the common man have increased manifold due to the policies of the BJP. Unemployment has increased, prices have gone high and developmental activities have suffered a lot during the tenure of the BJP government. BJP has pushed the state backward in all sectors and no progress has been registered in key sectors like PHE, PDD, R&B, Health, Education etc during the last more than eight years.
Senior party leader TS Tony in a statement said that the Aam Aadmi Party fully supports the call for Jammu bandh against Property Tax, unemployment and other anti-people decisions of the Government.
J&K National Panthers Party in a meeting held today at Jammu under the chairmanship of its president, Vilakshan Singh, unanimously resolved to support the Jammu Bandh call given by Chamber of Commerce and Industry against the imposition of Property Tax in J&K.
Singh said that post Covid-19, it has become difficult for the people to return to their normal life. Government did not provide any incentive to the masses to get them out of the financial crunch being faced by them. Singh said by imposing this tax, the government had added fuel to the fire. He demanded immediate withdrawal of Property Tax so that the public may not suffer.
Shiv Sena Hindustan, J&K Unit led by Rajesh Kesri has also supported Jammu bandh on Saturday.
Mission Statehood, leader, Sunil Dimple has also given support to the Jammu bandh call given by Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Meanwhile, transporters have decided to stay away from the Jammu bandh call given by the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Meanwhile, All J&K Transport Welfare Association president, Vijay Singh Chib said that though they are fully with the people of Jammu and Kashmir on Property Tax issue, but they will not participate in the Bandh/ strike programme given by president of JCCI Arun Gupta. Chib said JCCI president or other office bearers did not bother to take transporters’ body into confidence before taking any such decision. Chib said Chamber president unilaterally declared Jammu Bandh on Saturday during press conference. Therefore, our All J&K Transport Welfare Association in an emergency meeting held today decided not to participate in the Jammu Bandh but it was resolved to submit a memorandum to the UT Government seeking roll back on Property Tax, Chib added.
Meanwhile, newly constituted Executive Committee of J&K High Court Bar Association Jammu in a meeting held today under the leadership of its president, Vikram Sharma, majority of the members asserted that the Bar must stand for the aspirations of Jammu people as the latter always took up the High Court Bar Association Jammu as their unflinching voice. The Executive Committee, therefore, decided that keeping in view the aspirations of general public, the Bar shall suspend work in the courts on Saturday ( March 11), as a token of moral support to the sentiments of Jammu. The newly elected body also projected other burning issues of the lawyers during the meeting.
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