BJP calls Jammu shutdown Thursday

JAMMU - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and several other groups in Jammu and Kashmir have called for a Jammu shutown Thursday to protest against the “discriminatory attitude of the central and state governments towards Jammu region”.

BJP’s state unit president Shamsher Singh Manhas told reporters Wednesday that the eight-point package announced by the central government was “discriminatory against the Jammu region”.

“The people of Jammu have been ignored. It appears that the central and the state governments have taken Jammu for granted and also decided to punish it because of its patriotism,” Manhas said, adding: “We will not tolerate this kind of discrimination and that would be demonstrated by our shutdown tomorrow.”

The party has coincided the shutdown call with the opening of the legislature session in Srinagar Thursday.

The BJP has received support from various quarters including the Shiv Sena, Jammu State Morcha and others.

Jammu had been seething with anger over the eight-point package, announced by union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, as a way forward to address the problems of the state. The political groups in Jammu have pointed to seven out of the eight points being “Kashmir centric” and only one of them talking about the task force for Jammu and Ladakh regions.

“The whole thing is imbalanced and a rude shock for the people of Jammu,” said Ashok Gupta, president of Shiv Sena.