Suspension of goods trains dangerous, may affect armed forces in J-K, Ladakh: Punjab CM writes to Nadda
Nov 01, 2020
Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], November 1 : Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday wrote a letter to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda and warned of the "dangerous consequences" if the movement of goods trains to and from the state is not resumed.
The Chief Minister in his letter claimed that the armed forces from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh were likely to be "badly affected by critical shortages" with the onset of winter as they could run out of supplies once the snowfall blocks the roads to the areas.
"These are dangers that neither the central government nor any political party, including the BJP, can choose to ignore. We need to all liaise together, with the common goal of solving the contentious issue, in the interest of the country," the letter said.
Every day of the continued suspension of goods trains meant "critical losses" to the industry, agriculture and overall economy, in view of critical shortages of Power (Coal), Urea and DAP stocks, Singh said.
"If the armed forces are deprived of critical supplies, amid the increasingly aggressive overtures from both China and Pakistan, the situation could become extremely dangerous for the country. If the current crisis around the farmers is not resolved at the earliest, even Punjab could become more vulnerable to security threats from Pakistan, especially since ISI-backed terror groups were perpetually looking at exploiting any unrest in Punjab," he added.
Singh also marked his dissent over the "naxal" remark allegedly made by some BJP leaders in Punjab in reference to the farmers who staged a rail roko agitation in the state, which erupted in September after the Centre passed three controversial farm reform laws.