Srinagar: Security personnel stand guard as members of Delimitation Commission arrive to meet leaders of different political parties
Highlights
- A sikh body has expressed opposition to the draft proposal of the Delimitation Commission.
- It has demanded at least eight seats to be reserved for Sikhs in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.
The All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee on Thursday expressed its strong opposition to the draft proposal of the Delimitation Commission and demanded at least eight seats to be reserved for Sikhs in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly. "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?" APSCC Chairman Jagmohan Singh Raina said in a statement, reported news agency PTI.
“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,” he further said.
“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 high time that necessary corrections are made in the draft report so that the whole exercise is meaningful.
Meanwhile, the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) is slated to meet on February 26 to discuss the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir, including the draft proposal of the Delimitation Commission. The day of the meeting has been modified, as last week, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti had said the PAGD would meet on February 23.
"PAGD meeting is scheduled to be held at Srinagar on 26th February, 2022 to discuss the present prevailing situation in J&K," spokesperson of the five-party alliance M Y Tarigami said here on Thursday.
All mainstream parties in Jammu and Kashmir, except the BJP, have rejected the draft proposal of the Delimitation Commission, saying the commission did not follow the criteria laid down by itself for the exercise.
National Conference MPs, who are associate members of the Delimitation Commission, have questioned the very basis of the delimitation exercise, saying the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act has been challenged in the Supreme Court.
(With PTI Inputs)
