Dogri Sanstha, the premier literary and cultural organization of the state, in a specially convened meeting of its Office Bearers welcomed the reported initiative of the Central Govt. to set up a delimitation commission for Assembly seats in the J&K state.
Referring to the reports widely appearing in various newspapers and media channels, the Office Bearers of the Sanstha felt that due representation to Jammu region by enhancing its Assembly seats on equitable basis will go a long way in addressing the injustice done to the people of Jammu region over decades to some extent.
The members emphasized that the very basis of the democracy is to provide political representation to all citizens in equitable and fair manner. But Jammu has been denied this basic democratic right since the very beginning of the independence. The number of assembly seats assigned to the Jammu province are much less than the Kashmir province. This has been done deliberately by using biased and politically motivated criteria. It has always been realized that the root cause of the step motherly treatment meted out to the people of Jammu is this unfair and biased manner in which Jammu has been given less representation in the Assembly and political system. This has led to the gross misuse of political power and has been used to keep people of Jammu under the yoke of Kashmiri dominance.
The members expressed that delimitation carried out on the basis of uniform and unbiased criteria is the only way to give justice to Jammu. Any step in this direction should be welcomed by the people of Jammu and also by the right-thinking people of the other parts of the State.
Prof. Lalit Magotra, President of Dogri Sanstha while deliberating on the issue made it clear that Dogri Sanstha is a non-political organization, but it is very much alive to all issues which pertain to the existence and pride of Dogras and Dogri. The issue of delimitation is most vital for all people living in Jammu region and hence the Sanstha supports it vehemently.
Those who participated in the meeting include – Gianeshwar Sharma, Prof. Veena Gupta, Prof. Shashi Pathania, Dr. Nirmal Vinod, Susheel Begana, Dr. Chanchal Bhasin and Vijaya Thakur. Veteran Dogri writer and film personality Ved Rahi also participated in the meeting through telephonic conference and lent full support to this decision of Dogri Sanstha.
