Former health and forest minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Choudhary Lal Singh floated a “non-political” organisation–Dogra Swabhimaan Sangathan on Sunday and ‘called for bifurcation of the state’s resources’, as reported by The Indian Express.
The BJP MLA in the PDP-BJP coalition government from Basohli formed the “apolitical” outfit to “fight for the honour of Dogras and to get justice for Jammu region”. The outfit is set to fight against the ‘alleged discrimination’ faced by the Dogra community in Jammu region.
In an interview to the FirstPost Singh said, “Yes, it is my own political outfit which will work for the betterment of people of Jammu regardless of religion, caste or creed. But it is an apolitical organization and will work to reclaim the pride of Dogras of Jammu. We have chalked out 21 points on which we will work in coming days.”
Lal Singh made news headlines when he was made to resign from his post in the coalition government after he faced charges of supporting the offender in the Rasana rape and murder case of an eight-year-old girl.
In a gathering of more than thousand people, Lal Singh announced, “This organization will fight against the discrimination meted out to Dogras. This is not a political party. This is purely to wage a fight against the discriminatory politics in our state,” reported FirstPost.
He added that despite all the resources, Jammu lacks in development “in almost everything”. He said, “We face a maximum shortage of power when one river alone has the potential to generate 20,000 MW of electricity,” as reported by FirstPost.
BJP in the state does not seem very happy with the ”non-political” outfit formed by its member. Avinash Rai Khana, a senior leader and BJP MLC responded, “You can guess which way the wind is blowing and what his intentions are. He might say the outfit is apolitical but it is not. A report has been sent on Monday to the central leadership about his activities.”