Jammu and Kashmir: ABVP protest against govt recruitment... not about recruitment!

Alleging 'discrimination' in recruitment by the Jammu and Kashmir government against Hindi and Sanskrit, the ABVP led students in a protest march and sat on a dharna today, 17 December, blocking the main Tawi bridge on the highway in Jammu.

Their demand: that the state government create 200 teaching posts for Hindi lecturers, at least 20 for Sanskrit (and presumably do away with a few for other languages deemed 'foreign' in the 21st-century Hindutva imagination — never mind that Hindi and many other Indian languages have acknowledged their debts to those other languages all through the 20th century and prior).

The demonstrators accused the National Conference-led government of sidelining Hindi and Sanskrit in a recent recruitment notification issued by the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) for 10+2 lecturer positions.

They alleged that the government was promoting 'foreign languages' such as Arabic and Persian in the recruitment notification.

Carrying placards and raising slogans, the protestors marched from the Jammu University through the city, highlighting the government's alleged "regional and linguistic discrimination".

"This is regional and linguistic discrimination by the current government. Instead of promoting national languages [sic] like Hindi and Sanskrit, they are being deliberately ignored. These languages are part of our identity," ABVP leader Surinder Singh said.

"We are not against any language, but the government's preference for foreign languages [sic] like Arabic and Persian over Hindi and Sanskrit is a well-planned conspiracy [sic]," he argued. "It is an assault on our civilisation [sic], and we will not tolerate it."

Another ABVP leader, Anita Devi, echoed similar sentiments, saying, "This is not just about recruitment, it is a fight for our cultural identity."

The protesting students expressed frustration over the JKPSC's omission of Hindi and Sanskrit lecturer posts in its notice dated 12 November, which advertised 575 other teaching positions.

"We blame education minister Sakina Itoo and warn the Omar Abdullah-led government that students in Jammu will not accept this silently. The Kashmir-centric policies of this government are unacceptable, and we will fight this discrimination tooth and nail," said one of the protestors.

Several protesting students courted arrest with the dharna, even as senior police and district administration officers tried to persuade them to lift the blockade. Many of the protesters were also detained by police.

The BJP and several Jammu-based organisations have condemned the government's 'move' and warned of 'serious repercussions'.

"The NC government has barely resumed power and has already begun pushing its Kashmir-centric policies, sidelining the legitimate aspirations of Jammu's youth. This is unacceptable and we will not stand for it," BJP MLA Vikram Randhawa said.

Randhawa urged the JKPSC to ensure fair representation for regional languages by adding 200 posts for Hindi and at least 20 posts each for Dogri, Punjabi and Sanskrit.

Based on PTI inputs