Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 21: BJP national executive member & J&K chief spokesperson Dr Jitendra Singh has alleged that nothing but sheer political opportunism is behind the current controversy surrounding Village Defence Committees (VDCs) and reminded that it is none other than the National Conference (NC) which has been the greatest beneficiary of VDCs that had helped contain militancy in the tumultuous years of mid 1990s thus paving the way for Farooq Abdullah to take over as Chief Minister in 1996 after a protracted spell of Governor rule. If only the VDCs had not continued to play their monumental role,the Farooq Government would have found it difficult to sustain itself, he said and also pointed out that the decision to form VDCs was taken when there was Congress Government at the Center.
Dr Jitendra Singh accused both the NC and the Congress of exploiting the issue of VDCs from time to time for petty political gains depending on the expediency of the moment. While in the 1990s, both these parties used the VDCs for a breakthrough against paralysing terrorism, now, when the elections are approaching, the same socalled mainstream political parties have joined the separatist bandwagon in demanding winding up of VDCs in a competitive Kashmir-centric upmanship to appear “more loyal than the king”, he said.
Presenting an evidence based chronology, Dr Jitendra Singh went on to elaborate that the idea to form VDCs was born in the wake of a gruesome massacre of a large group of Hindus in 1995. Given the fact that Doda is an extremely mountainous area, with little hamlets scattered over vast, treacherous and thickly forested slopes, it was found impossible for the Army to be present everywhere and therefore forming VDCs by arming villagers themselves to tackle militants was thought to be a more feasible option, he explained. Later, VDCs were also set up in other militancy-affected parts of Jammu and Kashmir like Rajouri, Poonch and some areas in the Udhampur district, he added. The results were amazing as, very soon, militants were found to be reluctant to enter the villages which had VDCs, he said.
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