SRINAGAR: Apni Party Senior Vice President and Former Cabinet Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir today condemned the police lathi-charge on the protesting NHM workers in Jammu on Monday.
He has also expressed his deep concern over the government’s imperfect response to the demands of the employees and workers from various departments.
According to a press note, Ghulam Hassan Mir has said, “Holding a protest demonstration or observing a strike in favour of their demands is a democratic right of these annoyed workers. The government ought to give a patient hearing to these workers and try to resolve their issues peacefully. Trying to suppress the protesters by a brutal lathi charge is not the way democratic governments work.”
Mir added, “The administration must understand that the looming uncertainty over these workers and their dissatisfaction has been causing a tremendous loss to the developmental process in J&K. In this regard, the ongoing strike by the MGNREGA employees of the Rural Development Department is a glaring example as their strike has virtually halted the development activities of the department.”
“These workers are part of our society and the government cannot crush their voice by ignoring them or using force against them. We must also consider the fact that these workers have given their blood and sweat while performing their duties in respective departments for quite a long time. They cannot be pushed to the wall,” he said.
He further said, “My belief is that the government must sort out the issues amicably with the protesting employees and workers. They cannot be pushed to the wall. If they have some genuine demands they must be fulfilled as soon as possible so that this confrontation does not hinder the governance and developmental process in the Union Territory (UT).”
He urged the Lieutenant Governor (LG) to put his personal efforts to ensure the issues with these workers are resolved.
He said, “I appeal to the LG Manoj Sinha to intervene in these matters to ensure an amicable solution to the problems of these workers. I hope he will look into the matter personally so that the ongoing uncertainty in terms of protests and strikes by the workers are put to an end.”
