SRINAGAR: The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday staged a protest march calling for the reversal of the Jammu and Kashmir administration’s decision to impose property tax in the Union Territory starting on April 1. The new tax rates will be 5% for residential properties and 6% for commercial properties.
Suhail Bukhari, the PDP’s chief spokesperson, and dozens of party members set out on a protest march from the PDP offices near Sher-e-Kashmir Park. The party activists shouted anti-property tax chants and called for its roll-back.
A police presence near the Traffic Headquarters prevented the protesters from continuing their march into the Lal Chowk city centre. They later turned back and dispersed.
Addressing to reporters, Bukhari claimed that the government was attempting to erode the Jammu and Kashmiri people’s purchasing power.
“First, our political freedoms were taken away; next, democracy was buried here; last, the homes of the poor were destroyed and they were subjected to harassment. The property tax is next. In the previous five years, Jammu and Kashmir’s economic position has gotten worse. The industrial sector here is weak, and there is no employment (creation),” he said.
As per the PDP’s chief spokesperson, the government should have held the people’s hands “but instead the BJP government is seeking to deepen the people’s concerns.”
He urged the government to roll back its decision.
