Friday, 02 September 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
Says mining, land & liquor mafia hold sway in today’s Uttarakhand.
The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Karan Mahara has said that there is an urgent need to start a fresh movement in Uttarakhand to fulfill the aspirations of the martyrs of the statehood movement. He participated in a programme organised at the State headquarter of the Congress party on the occasion of the anniversary of the Khatima firing incident on Thursday. Offering floral tributes to the martyrs, he said the dreams of the statehood activists and martyrs are unfulfilled. Mahara said that one cannot forget the barbaric behaviour of the then Uttar Pradesh government towards the Statehood activists. He said that the souls of the martyrs would be pained by the prevailing sway of the mining, land and liquor mafia in Uttarakhand. He said that the statehood activists had envisioned that the natives of the State should have the first right over the land, water and forest resources but those in power today are not concerned about the poverty, unemployment and the problems of the general public. The PCC president alleged that instead of being punished the culprits of the Khatima, Mussoorie and Muzaffarnagar incidents were promoted.
He said that a sense of desperation prevails in the State because Gairsain has not yet been made the capital of Uttarakhand. He said that the Congress government had made a provision for pension and reservation in government jobs for the Statehood activists but the BJP government failed to defend these provisions in the Supreme Court (SC) which stayed the reservations.
Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat and other leaders were also present on the occasion. The Congress leaders also expressed condolences on the death of mother of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and observed a silence of two minutes as a mark of respect for the departed soul.
