Unemployed Engineers made `abortive bid’ to cross border
By News Agency of Kashmir
Jammu: Unemployed engineers, protesting against the government failure to formulate a recruitment policy for them, brought out a novel way to lodge their resentment. On the eve of Gandhi Jayanti a group of unemployed engineers Tuesday made an `abortive bid to cross over to Pakistan side’ from International Border in RS Pura sector.
Earlier in the morning, the unemployed engineers resorted to `Gandhi Giri’ and blocked the way of health minister Mangat Ram Sharma, who was going to participate in an official function to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti at Mubarak Mandi.
The engineers staged a sit in on the road and blocked the cavalcade of the minister. Shouting slogans in support of their demands, the engineers were however pacified by the police officers present on the spot.
A group of about twenty-five engineers later boarded a vehicle for RS Pura claiming that they want to cross over to Pakistan .
“We are going to cross border so that we can receive arms training in Pakistan”, one of the engineers’ leader Avinash Gupta told News Agency of Kashmir before leaving for RS Pura. He said that it is better to take arms rather than face starvation and frustration in the state as government prefer to rehabilitate militants rather than unemployed educated youth.
Raising anti-government slogans against the government the engineers reached Octroi post on Jammu-Sailkote road (blocked after partition). The engineers were however, stopped by Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and there was also a minor scuffle reported from the spot.
The engineers were taken into preventive custody by the police and brought back to Jammu, sources told NAK.
Talking to media the engineers claimed that they were forced to take the extreme step as government has miserable failed to provide them job opportunities in the state.
“Government is rehabilitating militants without paying any attention to the education unemployed youth of the state”, one of the engineer said adding, “It is better to resort to violence path and later surrender before the government so as to get money as well as government job on the name of rehabilitation”.