JAMMU: Tearing into the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) for its atrocious demands seeking the status of free economic zone for J&K and return of the NHPC-installed, managed and controlled power projects to the J&K Government, senior BJP leader and former political advisor to J&K BJP president Prof Hari Om Thursday appealed to the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) leadership to dissociate itself from these divisive demands in the larger national interest and identify itself with the Jammu cause and the national cause for which it is known and appreciated by one and all in Jammu province.
The demands put forth by the KCCI that J&K be conferred the status of free economic zone and that the NHPC power projects be returned to the J&K Government are ill-designed and ill-motivated. These demands, if conceded, would constitute a massive victory of the forces inimical to the national unity and countrys sovereignty. J&K is an integral part of India and it has to be treated as such at any cost, said Prof Hari Om, adding that those putting forth such pernicious demands are not well-wishers of India. They are the enemies of India and friends of Pakistan, he asserted.
The BJP leader also lambasted the KCCI for its nasty assertion that the NHPC power projects in the state are illegal and the NHPC must quit J&K so that all these projects are managed by the J&K Government.
These projects are not illegal. These are installed and commissioned as per the national policy and in consultation with the J&K Government. Those who question the NHPC and describe the NHPC-managed projects in the state as illegal only represent the view of the fringe elements and separatists. To accept this view would be only to accord respectability to those who consider India a foreign country and term such projects as symbols of the Indian State, said Prof Hari Om, adding that the BJP, which is part of the coalition government in the state, will defeat all such moves which are designed to weaken the Indian position in J&K and help secessionists promote their seditious agenda.
Prof Hari Om said he couldnt believe that any JCCI leader would ever make common cause with the pro-separatist KCCI and expressed the view that the JCCI will debunk the claim of the KCCI that it and the KCCI were one as far as their demand for status of free economic zone for J&K and stand on the NHPC power projects in the state was concerned. The JCCI has all through championed the cause of the deprived people of Jammu province and resisted with full might all attempts that were calculated to harm the paramount national interest in the state, he said, adding that the JCCI will never deviate from the path it has been treading ever since its inception. The contribution of the JCCI to the Jammu cause and national cause has been splendid and there is no doubt that it shall continue to contribute to both these pious causes as before, Prof Hari Om further said, and added that the JCCI will never betray the national cause by siding with such controversial outfits as the KCCI. The JCCI leadership is not a purchasable commodity and it has proved it pro-Jammu and pro-India credentials umpteen times in the past by its words, deeds and actions, he asserted
