Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 30: As the AIIMS Coordination Committee decided to go ahead with proposed call for Jammu bandh for three days, support for the same continued to pour in from number of Jammu based social and political organizations besides individuals.
Extending full support to the 72-hour bandh call by ACC, the Pradesh Congress has decried alleged attempts of the BJP leaders to mislead the people and to sabotage the agitation. “It is very unfortunate that the BJP secured the mandate of the people of Jammu region by false commitments and now the party is trying to sabotage their struggle by creating confusion to mislead on the eve of bandh call as earlier also on June 18, a written commitment was given to fulfill the demand by or before July 20, which proved to be fraud,” said a statement of the party.
The decision of extending support to Jammu bandh was taken during a meeting of senior Congress leaders, here today, at Congress Headquarters, under the chairmanship of PCC senior vice-president Sham Lal Sharma. The meeting was attended by Raman Bhalla, Kanta Bhan, Rajnesh Sharma, Thakur Balwan Singh, Dr Manohar Lal Sharma, Shabir Ahmed Khan, Manjit Singh, Ch Shah Mohammad, Vikram Malhotra, Anil Chopra, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Balwinder Singh Sambyal, Neeraj Kundan, Thakur Maheshwar Singh, Neeraj Gupta and others.
The meet appealed to the Jammu people to unitedly fight for the cause and lead the movement to the logical conclusions, as per initial announcement and written commitment for AIIMS in Jammu.
National Conference has also extended full support to the 72-hour Bandh Call given by the AIIMS Coordination Committee.
According to a statement issued by National Conference spokesperson Madan Mantoo, the party has decided to support the Bandh as it has consistently hailed the decision with regard to sanctioning of AIIMS for Kashmir and sought setting up of an additional and separate AIIMS to be established in Jammu.
The spokesman said anything short of a full-fledged AIIMS will be an attempt to hoodwink the people of Jammu and the party will oppose such a move tooth and nail.
“It is unfortunate that the coalition partners are ignoring the will of the people who have given them the mandate to rule the state”, he added.
Supporting the demand for establishing AIIMS in Jammu and the call for three-day bandh, All J&K Scheduled Caste Welfare Association has said that the ongoing struggle by the Coordination Committee was genuine and well deserved. Establishing AIIMS in Jammu would give boost to upliftment of socio-economic condition of Scheduled Castes and OBCs, whose concentration is more in this region, said R L Bharti, president of the Association.
Non-Teaching Employees Association of SKUAST-Jammu has also announced its support to ACC’s call for Jammu bandh and stressed that the ongoing struggle should continue till logical conclusion. Decision for support to Co-ordination Committee was taken during a meeting of the Association, held today under the chairmanship of president B N Singh and general secretary Zamir. Both of them will also join chain hunger strike by ACC tomorrow.
Mandli Mitran Di, a social organization, convened a meeting of the executive body, here today, and unanimously decided to support ACC call for 72-hour Jammu bandh from tomorrow. The meeting was addressed by president Mukerjeet Sharma, who stressed that establishment of AIIMS in Jammu will restore the honour and credibility of the Government amongst people of Jammu.
Jammu People Peace Forum and Link Road Businessmen Association held a protest against the State Government over the issue of AIIMS, here today, and announced to observe a complete bandh for three days from tomorrow. Led by JPPF president Sanjeev Gupta, the protesters raised anti-Government slogans and demanded grant of another AIIMS project to Jammu region. AIIMS is rightful claim of Jammu region and the struggle shall be taken to the logical conclusion till the demand is met and notification issued as per law for the AIIMS in Jammu along with allocation of funds for the same, he announced while reiterating support for Jammu Bandh.
Bar Association Kathua today appealed to all shopkeepers, business owners, transporters, students and general public to observe complete shutdown and bandh for the next 72 hours from tomorrow morning. AIIMS for Jammu is the need of hour and no discrimination with the region will be tolerated, said Advocate Ajat Shatru Singh, while addressing a press conference at Kathua.
The Gujjar & Bakkerwal State president, Choudhary Nazakat Khatana alleged that the State Government was playing with the aspirations of the people of Jammu by announcing the decision to shift AIIMS to Valley. The Government, especially BJP has failed to the expectations of the Jammu region where the party has been voted for and therefore the ACC is very much justified for its ongoing agitation, which needs to be supported by everyone, he added.
Senior PCC leader Ch Zaffarullah has urged the people to whole heartedly support to the movement for AIIMS in Jammu region and not to be mislead by the diversionary tactics of PDP and BJP. Criticizing PDP-BJP combination for its discriminatory and divisive politics, he alleged that both the parties were issuing statements to mislead people to divert their attention from the real issue.
Extending his support to AIIMS Coordination Committee with regard to three-day Jammu Bandh call from tomorrow, State president of Shri Ram Sena, Rajiv Mahajan has appealed to all social and political parties to join struggle launched by AIIMS Coordination Committee for setting up All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Hospital in Jammu. BJP in greed of power has sacrificed the issues of Jammuites and discriminated with this region leading Jammu to a state of uncertainty which is suicidal for all, he warned.
Jammu and Kashmir State Samaj Sudhar Committee held an emergency meeting under the chairmanship of Naveen Gupta and unanimously decided to support the Jammu Bandh for three days from tomorrow for AIIMS in Jammu.
A meeting of JK Youth Sharnarthi Action Committee was also held under the leadership of its president Pt RC Sharma wherein a unanimous decision was taken to extend full support to AIIMS Coordination Committee’s Jammu Bandh call for restoration of AIIMS to Jammu.
In Udhampur, a protest rally was organized by senior Congress leader Sumeet Magotra in support of the demand for establishing AIIMS in Jammu. The rally passed through various area of Udhampur town and culminated with a pledge to observe a complete shutdown for three days from tomorrow.
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