DSS leader demands separate state for Jammu, calls for lifting curbs

A Dogra community outfit on Wednesday appealed to the Centre to make Jammu a separate state instead of declaring it to be part of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan, founded by former state minister Choudhary Lal Singh said turning Jammu into a Union territory along with Kashmir has sent shock waves in the region.

A former BJP leader, who had to quit the state Cabinet in the wake of his utterances over Kathua rape case, also demanded the lifting of security restrictions on the movement of people in the region.

The Dogra outfit, however, supported the Centre's decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir's special status and dividing into two separate Union territories of J&K and Ladakh after nullifying Article 370 of the Constitution.

"A unanimous resolution passed at a meeting appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to revisit the Reorganization Bill passed in the Parliament and make necessary amendment to declare Jammu a separate State instead of attaching it with Kashmir under the UT status," the DSS said in a statement here.

The DSS said the meeting, which took place at Singh's Jammu residence because of his confinement by heavy police deployment, also unanimously resolved that "we support and stand by all the decisions of the Government of India which are aimed at curbing the political hegemony of Kashmir".

"We support all decisions taken for the protection of the legitimate rights of Jammu as well as Ladakh and to end the dominance of Kashmir over these regions once for all. But the new arrangement under Reorganization Bill, making Jammu and Kashmir a UT, has sent shock waves all across the Jammu province," it said.

It said although DSS expressed its gratitude to Modi and Shah for giving priority to Jammu and Kashmir, which has been neglected by all political dispensations that ruled the state since 1947, clubbing Jammu province with Kashmir and reducing it to a mere UT will have "serious repercussions in the time to come".

Addressing the meeting, Singh said the Dogras of Jammu have been clamouring for their legitimate rights, which were always denied by the Kashmiri rulers in connivance with some powers in Delhi.

"The Kashmiri rulers always exploited the country and played on behalf of the forces that are enemy to the peace of the nation, deserved to be pruned of their unbridled power. But the people of Jammu who are tested patriots, and had been waiting for this golden moment for the last 70 years seeking separate state, should have been rewarded today by making Jammu a separate State," he said.

Singh said that Dogra is a distinct race having its own physical structure, cultural ethos, and a language and has no compatibility with Kashmiri in any respect and hence needs a separate entity.