Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF) has called for ‘Kashmir Bandh’ on Saturday (June 17) while the Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) said it would go for ‘Secretariat Gherao’ on the same day to protest proposed implementation of Goods and Services Tax in the state.
Chairman of his faction of KTMF, Bashir Ahmad Rather, said “all stakeholders” should observe a complete shutdown on Saturday to protest implementation of GST “which is a direct attack on state’s special status.”
“We had already boycotted the meeting with Chief Minister and Finance Minister as our stand is clear that we won’t allow any compromise with the state’s special status,” he said in a statement. “Kashmir is an internationally-acknowledged disputed territory and bringing it under ‘one country, one tax’ regime is akin to fudging with its special status and that’s unacceptable to us.”
The KTMF called for shutdown on June 17, the day the government has called a special session of the Assembly to discuss implementation of GST.
Urging Kashmiris to make the shutdown call successful, Rather said: “All stakeholders should come forward and lodge their protest against the deceitful tactic of PDP-BJP government to erode Article 370.”
Pertinently, the all-party meeting convened by the government on Tuesday to discuss implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) law in Jammu and Kashmir failed to evolve a consensus, with opposition parties vehemently seeking constitutional safeguards in line with the state’s special position while some lawmakers even going to the extent of warning the government that any hasty decision on the issue could trigger a 2008-like agitation in the state.
Slamming the state government, Rather said: “The coalition government assures that financial autonomy of the state won’t be diluted after implementation of GST, but can they assure us that state government would have power to collect taxes or fix rates of their own? The answer is no. So where they are protecting the fiscal autonomy of the state?”
Acting Chairman of Kashmir Economic Alliance, Farooq Ahmad Dar, said: “Our amalgam has called for Secretariat Gherao on Saturday. We would also organize protest march from Press Enclave to Secretariat on Monday to lodge our protest against the implementation of GST.”
He said: “Extension of 101st Amendment Act of the Indian Constitution to J&K would erode state’s fiscal autonomy. The issue has far-reaching implications and the state government should not take any step in a hurry which could damage the state’s special position.”
While the Government of India has decided to roll out the GST across all states from July 1, the J&K government is under pressure from opposition and business community to ensure there is no compromise on state’s fiscal autonomy, even as Finance Minister, Haseeb Drabu, has been reiterating that the move won’t infringe the state’s fiscal autonomy.
Meanwhile, Joint Resistance Leadership comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik on Wednesday stepped in to oppose the Goods and Services Tax regime, saying “it is being implemented in the state at the cost of business community to cripple Kashmir economy.”
Expressing concern over proposed implementation of GST that has sparked off a major controversy in the state, the resistance leadership in a statement called it a “well thought-out plan to cripple our trade and economy.”
Lashing out at the state authorities, the leaders said they are “hell-bent to harm the business community.”
“Few state ministers are in league with authorities in Nagpur (RSS headquarters) and are being lured to implement GST in the state,” the resistance leadership said.
