Shutdown in J&K against Bill Seeking Ban on Inter-district Recruitment

A daylong shutdown called by the BJP against a bill seeking to prohibit inter-district recruitment in Jammu and Kashmir has affected normal life in the state with shops and business establishments being closed and traffic remaining off the roads, reported IANS.

The bill, which both houses of the state legislature are scheduled to debate today, generated anger in the state as it denies Scheduled Caste candidates jobs reserved for them at the district level.

Political parties based in the valley like the National Conference (NC) and the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) support the ban while parties based in Jammu like the BJP and Kashmir National Panthers Party are opposed to it.

However, Congress, an ally of ruling NC, is divided with Jammu-based legislators being opposed to the ban while those from the valley supporting it.

Protestors carried out road blockade, burnt tyres and held noisy demonstrations at many places, said report.

The police cleared one of the main bridges over river Tawi that connects Jammu city with the rest of the country, report said.

The reason of opposition to bill in the Valley is that it feels inter-district recruitment limits Kashmiri youths’ employment opportunities as jobs are reserved for the Scheduled Caste community, while the Jammu region feels that the bill seeking to ban such recruitment violates the constitutional provision of reservation of jobs for the socially marginalized people.

“The scales of natural justice demand that our people should get at least the jobs in their own districts,” NC legislator Chaudhary Mohammad Ramzan was quoted as saying.

But the BJP is opposed to it.

“It’s subversion of constitution,” BJP legislature Chaman Lal Gupta was quoted as saying. “We will not allow the fragmentation of the state on regional grounds.”