The Himachal Pradesh CPM has welcomed the decision of the state government to levy fees on the security cover being provided for the upcoming HPCA matches in Dharamshalla. The party has further asked the government to show adequate interest and recover the money due from the HPCA that accrue from the police bandobast provided during previous matches held at the same ground. The CPM has demanded the government should, till the recovery of the previous amount, not allow the holding of matches especially the IPL which is a money making machine kind sport and are not offering any charity. Here it needs to be reiterated that an amount of more than Rs 2 crore is due from the HPCA from the previous matches.
Party leaders Tikender Singh Panwar, in his press communiqué, has stated that the Congress government should also acquire the land allotted by the erstwhile BJP government to the HPCA for the construction of the 5 star hotel in Dharamshala. It is a shame that the previous government bypassing all laws of the land allotted such prime common land from common village pool to the cricket speculators. Whereas the Hon’ble Supreme court in May 2011 giving a landmark judgment has very categorically stated that the ‘transfer of village community land for private and commercial use as illegal and directed the states to take immediate steps to evict encroachers’. This case pertains to a writ petition filed by one Khatri Ram from Sirmour district. The court has further observed that ‘the state governments must prepare schemes for eviction of illegal occupants of village community land restore them back for the purpose it was originally meant for the purpose it was originally meant for. The scheme must provide for speedy eviction of encroachers’. In the above case the HPCA happens to be an encroacher on the common land of the people and should be immediate evicted. The Congress government must act in the light of the SC judgement and should set precedence in the country.
The CPM has stated, it is rather intrigued as to why the Congress government in the state is not taking prompt action against the HPCA as swiftly it did with Ram Dev. The Congress has to answer some of the indigestible and uncomfortable questions as to why the government is showing some smugness over it. Is it because of the IPL nexus that involves the central Congress leader Rajiv Shukla who was awarded a doctorate degree during the BJP regime in blatant violations to the norms of the land? Or is it because of the connection some of the Congress and BJP leaders have under the common code in cricket with the umbrella of HPCA? The Congress must answer these questions and work in the interests of the people and the state.
