Srinagar 31 january (KNS): "Delimitation of constituencies is an important part of the road ahead in Jammu & Kashmir and there are expectations that the discrimination with a large portion of population in the UT will come to an end by a judicious Demlimitation process and report in the near future", said Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, senior BJP and Kashmiri Pandit leader and Incharge: Deptt of Political Affairs and Feedback, J&K-BJP.
As per the statement issued to KNS, He expressed these views in his presentation in the Webinar organised by the Centre for Peace & Progress, New Delhi. The topic of the Webinar was "J&K- The Road Ahead in future" and was convened by O. P. Shah, the Chairman of the Centre.
The webinar was attended by a number of prominent personalities of socio-political melue in Jammu and Kashmir and some other parts of the country including among others Kapil Kak, John Dayal, Kuldeep Khuda IPS, Hashim Quraishi, A.M.Watali, Ishwar D Khajuria, Sshuja Zafar, Dr. Tasleem, Mushtaq Sikandar, Tanvir Sadiq, Ashwani Kumar Journalist, Ajaz Mistree, Tanvir Fatima, Amiya Kailara and Uzma Alam. Every speaker opined that the successful DDC elections need to be followed by a compatible political process in the UT.
Chrungoo in his presentation made it emphatically clear that the huge turn-out in the DDC elections is a clear signal of the urge of the people for peace, progress and development. "There has to be a forward march towards ending discrimination with the people of the UT through the intervention of the Delimitation Commission now".
He further added that the Supreme Court was also expected to take up the pleas pending before it in respect of the 5/6 August 2019 developments and deliver its judgement so far as the legality of the parliamentary action was concerned. This will bring to an end the confusion and uncertainty among those who have an expectation of judgement from the apex court.
"There can't be two opinions about the facts of discrimination and bias against the region of Jammu in respect of delimitation earlier which allotted three seats to the Kashmir valley and two seats only to the Jammu region for the parliament in addition to giving 46 Assembly seats to Kashmir and 37 seats to Jammu division. This was and remains a violation of the fundamental rights in terms of equality and equal opportunities. The Kashmiri Pandit community, which is living as refugees in its own country for the last more than three decades now, has remained unrepresented all along due to gerrymandering of constituencies in the valley", the BJP leader added.
It is a politically victimised community for no fault of theirs and the ethnic cleansing in 1989-90 has added to and multiplied their woes in this respect. A fervent appeal is made to the Delimitation Commission to exercise its powers to send such a recommendation to the President and the government of India that settles the unsettled issue of politically important concern of the Pandit community. Chrungoo added, "It will also help paving way for the resettlement of the community in the valley, eventually, as per their geo-political aspirations in the days to come". (KNS)