“Invoking Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s legacy in Gurez, Koul holds Nehru responsible for circumstances surrounding his death”
Tauseef Ahmad
Gurez, June 24: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary (Organisation) Ashok Koul on Tuesday alleged irregularities in the outsourcing of nearly 24,000 jobs in Jammu and Kashmir, claiming the recruitment process lacked transparency and deprived deserving candidates of fair opportunities.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to Gurez Valley in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, where he will inaugurate party office and qill interact with party workers, Koul said the party would continue to oppose appointments made through outsourcing and demand recruitment through established agencies such as the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) and the Public Service Commission (PSC).
“Nearly 24,000 jobs have been outsourced. We have raised our voice against it and will continue to do so. Recruitment should be made through JKSSB and PSC. If appointments are made through these institutions, we have no objection,” Koul said.
He alleged that the outsourcing process had been used to favour select individuals and claimed that communities entitled to reservation benefits, including Scheduled Tribes, had not received adequate representation in the recruitment exercise.
Paying tributes to Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Koul also referred to the circumstances surrounding Mookerjee’s death in Kashmir in 1953. Citing a letter written by Mookerjee’s mother, Yogmaya Devi, to then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Koul alleged that Nehru bore greater responsibility for the Jana Sangh founder’s death than the then Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah.
“Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee was a former Union minister and Member of Parliament. Serious questions were raised about the circumstances of his detention and death,” he said.
Koul said the BJP was strengthening its organisational base in Jammu and Kashmir and preparing for future local body elections.
“The BJP is ready whenever panchayat elections are announced. We are working to strengthen the party at the grassroots and expand our presence across the region,” he said.
Reiterating the party’s position on statehood, Koul said the BJP remained committed to restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
“The Prime Minister and the Home Minister have already assured that statehood will be restored at an appropriate time. We believe it should happen and it will happen,” he said.
The BJP leader also referred to infrastructure projects in the region, including the proposed Razdan Pass tunnel connecting Gurez with the rest of Kashmir, and said work on the project would move ahead after completion of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and the tendering process.
Koul further claimed that the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir had improved considerably in recent years, citing the decline in stone-pelting incidents and what he described as a return of normalcy across the Union Territory.
