Jammu, Jul 21: Leader of Opposition in J&K Legislative Assembly Sunil Sharma on Tuesday, in a sharp dig at the government led by the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, accused it of “preferring political theatrics over concern for suffering humanity.”
LoP Sunil Sharma, while addressing a press conference at the party headquarter in Jammu, asserted that the “statehood protests could be paused” as the people devastated by natural calamities could not be allowed to wait as they needed immediate succour.
“One can wait for statehood. It can come later. The protest theatrics for statehood can be performed later. People are confronting devastation of an unprecedented scale. The government needs to be visible on the ground and the Chief Minister, handling crucial departments, should stand in proactive mode with people during their hour of crisis,” he said and asked the government to suspend its political activities and focus on relief and rehabilitation in the natural calamities-hit people in Poonch, Rajouri and other areas of the Union Territory.
In the same breath, he maintained that the events of July 20 “laid bare the stark moral and operational bankruptcy of the National Conference (NC) leadership and the Omar Abdullah-led administration.”
LoP was joined by MLA Jammu North and former minister Sham Sharma; J&K BJP vice president and former MLC Shehnaz Ganie; MLA Mohan Lal (MLA); J&K BJP general secretary Gopal Mahajan and J&K BJP spokesperson Zorawar Singh in the presser.
Sunil Sharma, in response to a question, stated that it would be unfortunate if the statehood (issue) would again be taken as a pretext by the government to hide its failure in relief and rehabilitation of the people affected by natural calamities in Jammu region.
“Nothing would be more preposterous if the government deliberately tried to link statehood with the relief and rehabilitation works in the aftermath of natural calamities. We would need to introspect and awaken our conscience if anyone (government) indulged in trading deaths and destruction with the bogey of statehood, which was already promised by the Prime Minister of India and the Union Home Minister on the floor of Parliament,” he responded.
LoP said it was very unfortunate to see the absence of government among the people, battling the fury of nature. “The government’s presence and response have failed to meet the expectations of the affected families. BJP tried to reach every family and person. We urge the government also to stand with the people in their hour of crisis and provide them with required succour,” he alleged.
Sunil Sharma asserted that it was not the right time to indulge in politics but to focus on relief efforts.
BJP leaders demanded Rs 20 lakh compensation for those who lost their lives in cloudburst and flash floods besides 6 months ration, immediate rehabilitation of rain affected families, re-establishment of damaged religious institutions and temporary houses for those families living in slum areas of district Rajouri who lost everything including utensils and clothes in flash floods.
They also demanded similar compensation and relief to those who lost their lives in shooting stones in RaggiNullah in Doda district and structures damaged in KyarDachhan belt of Kishtwar district.
“This is no time for politics. Rising above the politics, all the political parties and individuals need to work with urgency and ensure that all possible help reaches the affected families without delay. All of us need to help the affected rebuild their lives. If the government becomes visible on the ground at this hour of crisis, we (BJP), too, as a responsible party, assure our full support to it (government) and the administration in relief and rehabilitation works. But the government should be visible first on the ground,” LoP stated.
He clarified that the party did not want to politicise the issue. “But at the same time, we cannot act as a silent spectator to the suffering of people, devastated by a spate of natural calamities. The people’s aspirations and expectations are linked to us (BJP) as well. We are expected to raise their voice and act as a responsible, proactive opposition party – a role granted by people,” LoP said.
Sunil Sharma said, “As our primary responsibility, BJP tried to reach the affected people. We decided to visit natural calamities-hit Poonch, Rajouri to be with our people in crisis, after postponing our “Secretariat Chalo” march in Srinagar to highlight very significant issues confronting people of J&K.”
Around 27-28 people lost their lives in flash-floods, landslides in the twin districts of Rajouri-Poonch, besides three lives were lost in Ragginullah mudslide incident in Doda district as well, he said, adding that Bhalessa, Marwah-Warwan and in Kyar area of Dachchan too were hit by similar incidents of flash-floods. Though there was no loss of life there yet the situation was worrisome, he said.
With regard to the party’s postponed “Secretariat march”, Sunil Sharma said, “It was to raise voice against rising corruption and outsourcing of jobs ruining J&K youth’s future. We are not against outsourcing of jobs but our concern is that the job recruitment mechanism is not fixed and thus favouritism is ruling the roost.” “Similarly, the people of J&K had been waiting for the conduct of Panchayat polls to strengthen democracy at the grassroot level, but the Chief Minister, in sheer arrogance, declared that the conduct of Panchayat polls would be as per his whims. It simply meant that Panchayat elections would not be held in the near future. BJP wanted to express its resentment and raise people’s voice on these issues through a protest march in Srinagar on July 20,” LoP explained.
However, he said, the party postponed its march in the wake of devastation on account of natural calamities during the intervening night of July 18 and 19 in Surankote, proper Poonch and other areas of the district and Rajouri, claiming around two dozen lives.
He said that in tandem with the responsibility of any political party in such a crisis situation to stand by the people, BJP decided that its protest march could wait, but a party delegation should visit the affected areas immediately.
LoP Sunil Sharma maintained that the aim of the visit was to listen to the concerns of the affected people, understand the challenges being faced by them and conduct a detailed review of the situation on the ground. He further stressed that the concerns of the people of Poonch and Rajouri must be addressed on priority and every possible effort should be made for their recovery and rehabilitation.
Launching a verbal offensive against the Chief Minister, the Leader of Opposition said that as the head of the government, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s foremost responsibility was to remain in Jammu and Kashmir, personally monitor rescue and relief operations and ensure that all available resources were mobilised to save lives and assist the affected families.
“But he (CM) along with his party leadership preferred to indulge in “political theatrics” in New Delhi while Jammu and Kashmir was grappling with one of the worst rain-related tragedies in recent years. The National Conference chose “politics over humanity” by organising and participating in a protest in the national capital at a time when flash floods, cloudbursts and landslides had claimed several lives across the Union Territory, particularly in Poonch and Rajouri districts,” he alleged.
“Even today, several bodies remain buried under debris in the flood-ravaged areas of Poonch and Rajouri, but the ruling party appears more interested in political optics than addressing the humanitarian crisis,” LoP further claimed.
Taking strong exception to photographs of the Chief Minister circulating on social media during the Delhi protest, Sunil Sharma alleged that he (CM) was busy posing for photographs with his sons and sharing images of travelling in an e-auto while people in Jammu and Kashmir were battling unprecedented devastation.
“It is unfortunate that at a time when families are searching for their missing loved ones and rescue teams are risking their lives to retrieve bodies from the debris, the Chief Minister is engaged in what has become a Delhi picnic and photo session,” he maintained.
LoP informed that following news of another cloud burst in Loran Mandi on Monday, a team headed by former party president Ravinder Raina rushed to that affected belt to meet affected families and take stock of the situation so that immediate relief could be provided at party level.
With regard to the BJP delegation’s extensive tour of the flood-hit areas in Poonch and Rajouri, he stated that the scale of destruction was enormous and many affected families were still awaiting immediate assistance. He said the administration should be focusing entirely on relief, rehabilitation and restoring normalcy instead of pursuing political programmes outside the Union Territory.
The BJP leaders also informed that party leaders and workers of all flood affected districts were preparing a comprehensive report of losses including that of residential and commercial, crops, livestock, agriculture land. The report would be submitted to top party leadership to further take up with the UT as well as central government.
