Balwant Singh Mankotia is an Indian politician and the former President of the

Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party The Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party is a socialist and secular state political party in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The party was founded on 23 March 1982 by Prof. Bhim Singh and a few prominent youth political personalitie ...

. He has been twice elected member of the

Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly also known as the Jammu and Kashmir Vidhan Sabha is the legislature of Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir was dissolved by the Governor on 21 N ...

, holding office for 12 years. He is a leading campaigner for secular values against the terrorist insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. On 29th September 2022, he joined

Bhartiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

Early life

His parents are Thakur Ram Das and Surju Devi. His father, Sh. Mast Ram Mankotia was an Indian military commander in Operation Polo 1948, that ousted ''Nizam'' (King) Osman Ali Khan and led to the annexation of Hyderabad to India. He graduated with a BSc from

Jammu University Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of , ...

in 1992.

Career

Member of government, 2002

He won his first election in 2002 from Udhampur, and was a part of the coalition government in the

, with the PDP and

Congress Party The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

. In 2002, Balwant Singh was the first MLA to give oath in the Dogri language in the name of Vaishno Devi, a trend that was adopted by other

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

MLAs in

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

Protest leader in opposition, 2008

After he retained his seat in the 2008 Jammu and Kashmir general elections, Balwant was a vocal member of the opposition, and campaigned to end illiteracy in the state. Balwant Singh led several protests in the assembly house against Pakistan, then chief minister Omar Abdullah and demanded that the word secular be inserted into the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, to match the Constitution of India. His protests in the assembly house included leading walkouts and throwing a microphone while standing on tables in the assembly house.

President of Panthers Party & OIC-UN issue, 2010

In 2010, Balwant Singh became the President of the Panthers Party, and led a large demonstration in front of the UN peacekeeping force base in Jammu. While burning an effigy of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Balwant demanded that the United Nations secretary-general terminate recognition of the OIC, from the UN's list of recognised groups. He alleged that the OIC, akin to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, ISI, was supporting terrorist groups in Jammu and Kashmir.

Protests as Opposition in Legislative Assembly, 2014

On 24 August 2014 Speaker of the House, Mubarak Gul ordered security guards to forcibly evict Balwant Singh from the assembly when he disturbed proceedings against a bill by Omar Abdullah that had urged India to resume dialogue with Pakistan, instead Balwant wearing a black bandana hawkishly demanded that the assembly condemn ceasefire violations by Pakistan, claiming they were leading to deaths of innocent villagers. He was then forcefully ejected from the legislative assembly by the security marshals and suspended. After disturbing the proceeding he demanded on television that speaker (politics), Speaker Mubarak Gal, have the assembly unanimously adopt a resolution against Pakistan, for its ceasefire violations in the Kashmir conflict.

Jammu and Kashmir floods, 2014

He campaigned for the October 2014 Jammu and Kashmir floods, 2014, Jammu and Kashmir floods, to be escalated to status of State of emergency, National Emergency in India to ensure that the effected residents would be compensated.

House Arrest, 2019

Following Revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, Balwant Singh Mankotia was put under house arrest for over two months.

Personal life

His uncle Bhim Singh (politician), Bhim Singh, was founder of the Panthers Party and his cousin Harsh Dev Singh is its chairman. His cousin Ankit Love is the leader of the One Love Party in Great Britain.

References

External links

Balwant Singh Mankotia on News Express via YouTube

Balwant Singh Mankotia on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mankotia, Balwant Singh 21st-century Indian politicians University of Jammu alumni Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party politicians People from Udhampur district Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Dogra people Jammu and Kashmir MLAs 2002–2008 Jammu and Kashmir MLAs 2008–2014