Systematic Discrimination Against Jammu Youth Unacceptable: CM Omar Abdullah Must Answer — Pawan Sharma
Jammu, 05 January 2025: The recent selection of the Jammu and Kashmir Under-14 Cricket Team has once again exposed the deep-rooted, systematic discrimination being meted out to the Jammu region. The selection of 13 players from Kashmir and only 3 from Jammu is not a coincidence—it is a clear, deliberate, and politically motivated act that reflects regional bias rather than merit.
This shameful imbalance proves that talent, performance, and hard work of Jammu’s young cricketers have been blatantly ignored, while regionalism and power preservation have become the real criteria for selection under the present dispensation.
The Omar Abdullah-led government is directly accountable for this injustice. The so-called Sports Minister, Satish Sharma, has completely failed in his constitutional and moral duty to safeguard the interests of Jammu’s youth. Instead of acting as a guardian of sports and fairness, his tenure has become synonymous with the destruction of sporting merit, politicization of selection processes, and crushing the aspirations of Jammu’s young talent.
Let it be made absolutely clear:
This is not merely a sports-related issue.
This is a direct attack on Jammu’s identity, self-respect, and future.
Young players who rightfully deserved opportunities have been deliberately sidelined, sending a dangerous message that youth from Jammu are second-class citizens in their own Union Territory.
Enough is enough. The people of Jammu will no longer tolerate this injustice in silence. We issue a clear and final warning to the Jammu and Kashmir government:
Immediately reform the selection process, ensure transparency, merit, and regional balance, and deliver justice to Jammu’s youth;
OR Sports Minister Satish Sharma must take moral responsibility for this failure and resign without delay.
If this discrimination continues, the responsibility for the growing anger and unrest among Jammu’s youth will rest squarely on the shoulders of the Omar Abdullah government. Jammu will not beg for its rights, Jammu will demand justice.
