Sanjha Morcha

Control war hysteria, don’t spread panic, NGO tells Modi government

Tribune news service

Amritsar, October 2

Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM), appreciating the Indian military action against terrorists in Pakistan, has urged the government to control war hysteria.Its members, in a meeting convened here today, stated that a border district like Amritsar always suffered the most during a war as its industry and agriculture incurred massive losses.The government’s precautionary evacuation from border villages of this district created panic among urban traders, businessmen and industrialists besides the public.It seems that the government had shown haste in ordering the evacuation drive in all border villages of Punjab whereas no such move had taken place in border states like Gujarat, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. This evacuation move may adversely affect the business, trade and industries of Amritsar, the main border city of Punjab. Instead of raising the morale of public to face any untoward situation, the government machinery spread panic itself. When other border states were in a calm and steady state, Punjabis were made to feel as if they were in a war-like situation, members of the AVM said.AVM president Kulwant Singh Ankhi said many big business and industries like Partap Steel Mills, Shambu Nath Factory of Sulphuric Acid, Hind Thermometers along with textile units of Gate Hakiman, Puttalighar and Chheharta shut their operations leaving thousands of workers, technicians, engineers and ministerial staff jobless in the war years of 1965 and 1971.He recalled that in Partap Steel Mills, more than a thousand workers became unemployed when the factory was shifted to another city. The value of property also nosedived during that period.No evacuation was encouraged by the government in 1965 and 1971 war periods. But the brave residents of border villages helped Army personnel in many ways. The residents supplied food in bunkers, boosting morale of the soldiers. But why the government was asking border village residents to evacuate their homes in today’s time was not understandable, he said.

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