Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Coordination Committee (JKCC) on Monday demanded the ouster of Finance Minister, Haseeb Drabu and the Member of Parliament Muzafar Hussain Beigh for failing to safeguard of the fiscal autonomy of the state by implementing goods and services tax (GST).
Addressing a press conference here in Srinagar JKCC senior leader Mubeen Ahmad Shah said that the state government ‘should through Haseeb Drabu and Muzzafar Hussain Beigh, out, who took the traders for a ride a surrendered everything on the fiscal autonomy front and sovereignty’.
“We understand that both of them need to be accountable and therefore they have no right to stay at their respective positions,” he said.
Shah said that the whole system seems to be rotten and there is no door that one can knock upon.
“If the said Finance Minister and the said Member of Parliament would have realized their follies and the difference between what they preach and what they practice they would have resigned on moral grounds by this time, but obviously and unfortunately they cannot see the difference,” he said adding, “Irony is that the minster keeps on hoodwinking the trade by one confusing statement or the other or by so called schemes.”
Shah said that anyone opposing GST is branded as separatist and even a partly like Congress, which has spearheaded the systemic stripping of, “our rights and privileges under the special status of our state since decades, perceived this implementation as an infringement of the special status of our state”.
The official press statement said that trade bodies had held series of meetings with the state authorities including Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu.
“Both of them not only agreed to desist from affording concurrence to the central law in any hasty manner but also facilitated us to conduct meetings with the Chairman Consultative Committee, Muzzafar Beigh, appointed for suggesting safeguards to the state constitution and its special position.
Muzaffar Beigh while appreciating the apprehensions put forth by the trade bodies assured them of accommodating their concerns and suggestions in safeguarding the state’s special position,” the statement read.
Shah said, “At all these government levels, the trade organizations were promised of rolling out a state GST law that without eroding our special position and without compromising the sovereignty of J&K.
Apart from this, we were assured that the draft of such a proposed GST law would be shared with us for our comments and suggestions before its presentation in the Legislative Assembly, however, to our utter dismay, this promise was not kept and instead a resolution was directly presented before the Legislative Assembly on 3rd of July, 2017.”
JKCC accused the state assembly members holding “some artificial and cosmetic,” discussions over the implementation of GST saying it meant nothing in the end.
“The so called mainstream parties collaborated with each other which they always do and got it passed. Some were present in the house and some were absent from the house but in the end, we dare say, that those present supported it with their presence and those absent were also in support of it with their absence. It was sort of a fixed match or shall we say a fixed assembly session,” Shah added.
JKCC wowed to continue to fight until their demands are met. “JKCC wish to put on record that we not going to rest until Presidential order is withdrawn, GST Act in the present form is rolled back and Jammu and Kashmir is declared a free economic zone,” Shah said.
Answering to a question that despite several protests and other actives did not yield result on ground and how would JKCC peruse government regarding to fulfill the demands, Shah replied, “Majority of the people in Kashmir are asking for self determination does it mean that if we are not getting it for 70 years will not protest, the same thing is going to happen here till these people who have done this realize what wrong they have done to the community.”
