In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, regional political parties National Conference, People’s Democratic Party and Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M) staged separate protest demonstrations in Jammu city against the imposition of property tax in the territory by the authorities and demanded immediate roll back of the decision.
According to Kashmir Media Service, National Conference leaders and activists led by Rattan Lal Gupta took to the streets outside the party’s headquarters at Residency Road and raised slogans against the IIOJK administration for imposing the tax. Addressing the protesters, Rattan Lal termed the implementation of the property tax as “arbitrary and undemocratic”.
NC leader, Babu Rampal, in his address to the protesters claimed that nearly 80 per cent of the population, residing in urban areas, will be directly affected by the tax. “Today the people of Jammu and Kashmir are feeling betrayed by the abrogation of Article 370 as the situation has turned from bad to worse post abrogation. Every section of society stands adversely affected by the anti-people policies of the BJP government,” he said.
PDP activists held a demonstration at Purani Mandi in the city against imposition of the property tax and slammed the BJP for its failure to provide security to the members of minority community in the Kashmir Valley where a Kashmiri Pandit, Sanjay Sharma, was recently shot dead in Pulwama district. The protesters said the imposition of property tax is to further weaken the people economically. —INP
