Following protests and the BJP’s demand for his resignation over the fiasco in the selection of the Santosh Trophy football team from Jammu and Kashmir, the sports minister Satish Sharma on Monday ordered a time-bound and impartial inquiry into the alleged discrimination against the Jammu region.
The controversy broke out after all 20 players selected for the Santosh Trophy were from the Kashmir valley and not a single one from the Jammu region, protesters alleged.
The J&K Sports Council has described these allegations as misleading and defended the selection as “merit-based and transparent”.
“Taking cognizance of the media reports regarding issues in the selection of the team for the football championship for Santosh Trophy, a detailed, impartial enquiry shall be held in a time-bound manner. I assure all that violation of the merit-based selection policy by anyone will result in severe consequences and appropriate punitive measures,” the sports minister said in a social media post.
BJP’s spokesperson Rajni Sethi has strongly condemned the “discriminatory” selection process for the Santosh Trophy team and demanded the immediate resignation of Sports Minister Satish Sharma.
In a statement, Rajni Sethi stated that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jammu and Kashmir has been assured equal rights, equal opportunities, and equal development for all regions.
“However, the National Conference (NC) government in the UT continues to repeatedly hurt the sentiments of the youth of Jammu through biased and discriminatory policies”, she said.
She alleged that the discriminatory mindset of the NC government is not new.
“The people of Jammu are well aware of NC’s long-standing bias. During the controversy over MBBS seat selection at SMVDU, Katra, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah openly supported the youth of Kashmir while questioning the knowledge and calibre of Jammu’s youth, which deeply demoralised them,” she claimed.
Highlighting the Santosh Trophy selection issue, Rajni Sethi said that 98 players were shortlisted for the trials, including 74 from the Jammu region and 24 from Kashmir. As per norms, 20 players were to be selected for the final team. “Shockingly, all players from Jammu were rejected and only players from Kashmir were selected. This clearly exposes the unfair, non-transparent, and biased selection process,” she said.
Meanwhile, Congress’s chief spokesperson, Ravinder Sharma, has expressed concern over the controversy and questioned the reasons for the selection of a single player from the Jammu region in the process, despite a higher number of candidates from the region.
Expressing surprise over the alleged discrimination against players of the Jammu region, JKPCC Chief Spokesperson asked the government and concerned authorities to immediately respond to the controversy and allegations of bias and injustice.