Delimitation Commission wants to disenfranchise Sikh community; APSCC
Srinagar,CNS,17-Feb;Taking strong exception to the exclusion of Sikh community from any reservation proposed by the Delimitation Commission with respect to seats in Jammu & Kashmir legislative assembly, the All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) today said that the Commission wants to disenfranchise the Sikh community.
In a statement issued to CNS, APSCC Chairman Jagmohan Singh Raina said that if 16 seats can be reserved for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in Jammu & Kashmir assembly why no seat can be reserved for the Sikhs of the union territory. He said that this is despite the fact that at least eight seats can be reserved for the community.
“There are many Sikh dominated constituencies across the length and breadth of Jammu & Kashmir. These include Batmaloo, Baramulla and Tral in Kashmir region and Gandhi Nagar, R S Pura, Suchetgarh, Nowshera and Vijaypur in Jammu region. These seats ought to be reserved for Sikhs so that they could feel that they have been empowered in the right context,” said Raina.
The APSCC Chairman said that the Delimitation Commission is working on the agenda set out by the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP). He accused the other political parties of playing politics over the issue and said that National Conference redrew the constituencies according to their own vote bank.
“Since the Delimitation Commission is headed by a former judge of Supreme Court we had high hopes that this time around justice would be done. No reservation means that the people at helm want that no chance is given to the community members to choose their own representative. The traditional political parties are playing politics according to their vested interests and they don’t care for people in general and the community members in particular,” said Raina.
The APSCC Chairman said that Sikh politicians like Praduman Singh Azad, H S Bali, Surinder Singh and Harbans Singh Azad won assembly elections from Gandhi Nagar, Tangmarg and Baramulla in the past. He said that it is the responsibility of the Commission to satiate the feelings and aspirations of all communities including Sikhs adding that justice continues to be denied to the community members.
“Delimitation Commission should not take dictations from any government. Scores of delegations met the Delimitation Commission members at Kashmir and Jammu and submitted written documents seeking redress for various constituencies and communities. The Commission seems to have dumped them in the dust-bin,” said Raina.
The APSCC Chairman said that the Delimitation Commission can still undo the wrongs if it listens to the genuine demands of members of the different communities especially Sikhs. He said that it is high time that necessary corrections are made in the draft report so that the whole exercise is meaningful.(CNS)
