State issues to figure at RSS’ Hyderabad meeting

Dinesh Manhotra

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Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 12

Top leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) from the state have been invited to a three-day meeting in Hyderabad to devise a comprehensive strategy on solving the decades-long contentious issues pertaining to J&Kwithin a stipulated time frame.

The crucial meeting from October 23 to 25 will be attended by top national leaders of the RSS, including its chief Mohan Bhagwat. State RSS “sanghchalak” Brig (retd) Suchet Singh, “prant karaywah” Purshotam Dedechi and “prant parcharak” Ramesh Pappa have been invited to the important meeting.

The Hyderabad meeting has assumed importance because for the first time, any RSS chief had touched upon many issues pertaining to J&K during his Dasehra address. Besides addressing issues concerning displaced Pandits who had been forced to leave their homes in the early 1990s, Bhagwat demanded citizenship rights for West Pakistani refugees who had been living in the state since 1947.

“Many issues continue to hang fire. During and after Partition, many Hindu refugees were displaced from Pakistan and reached there,” Bhagwat said. He pointed out that Sheikh Abdullah had assured the refugees their rights.

“The third generation is living there. They do not have state citizenship rights. They do not have ration cards and jobs. How long will they wait?” asked Bhagwat.

“State RSS leaders have been asked to prepare comprehensive reports on issues raised by Bhagwat during his Dasehra speech,” a source said. “State RSS leaders will give a presentation in Hyderabad on these issues,” he added.

A top Sangh Parivar leader said on the condition of anonymity that the RSS chief’s Dasehra address was the guiding vision for Parivar constituents, including the BJP, and all issues highlighted by Bhagwat would be solved within a time frame.

“Although BJP leaders have abandoned the issue of citizenship rights for West Pakistani refugees while incorporating issues in the ‘Agenda of Alliance’, the Sangh Parivar is committed to solve this humanitarian issue,” he said.

A decision in this regard had been taken at the national level, he added. The sources said state RSS leaders had been also asked to prepare data about areas wherein Jammu and Ladakh regions were discriminated against by successive state governments. “The discriminatory approach of the state administration towards Jammu and Ladakh regions should be ended immediately,” Bhagwat said in his address on Tuesday.