Demand to make Dasuya a district comes up again

Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi

Hoshiarpur, April 30

Residents of Dasuya, the oldest subdivision of Hoshiarpur district, have again put up their long-pending demand of making it a district. The issue is being raised for a decade now and usually during elections, it is a poll promise but it has been never fulfilled. People of the area say that had to travel long distances to reach the district headquarters.

The historic town of Dasuya is centrally located with respect to Talwara, Mukerian and Tanda blocks. The ancient Gurdwara Gharna Sahib, only 4 km from the town, had been established in the memory of the sixth Sikh Guru and is a great tourist attraction. The worship place of Baba Lal Dayal was situated at Datarpur, 30 km from Dasuya. The demand was formally raised before the Chief Minister in 2008. Sohan Lal Prashar, one the men behind floating the idea a decade ago, told The Tribune, “In the 2013 by-elections, after the death of Amarjit Sahi, CM Parkash Singh Badal during a rally in Talwara block promised to make Dasuya a district if Sukhjit Kaur Sahi won. Sukhjit won with a huge margin but the promise was not fulfilled.”

In the recent Assembly elections, almost all candidates promised the same. Last week, Dasuya Bar Association held a programme to welcome Congress MLAs Arun Dogra of Dasuya, Rajnish Kumar Babbi of Mukerian and Sangat Singh Gilzian of Urmar, who gave a positive response to the demand.

Dogra told The Tribune, “We three MLAs are dedicated to the cause and will try our best to make it a reality. We will meet the Chief Minister together in this regard.”