Early Times Report
JAMMU, May 26: It is height of opportunism. The so-called party with a difference, the BJP, can swallow any insult to stay put in power it somehow got after diluting its ideology and letting down the people of Jammu province. Its coalition partner in J&K is snubbing it and humiliating it publicly almost on a daily basis, but the "opportunist" and "shameless" BJP leadership in general and BJP Ministers, BJP MPs, BJP MLAs and BJP MLCs in particular do not muster courage to take on or contest the PDP.
"They are just spineless, opportunist and power hungry," the critics of the BJP have been saying since March 1, the date the PDP-BJP coalition government was formed.
The PDP on March 1 declared in the presence of the so-called BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh that it was because of Pakistan, terrorists and Hurriyat that successful assembly elections could be held in the state, but Nirmal Singh remained mum, thus endorsing the PDP stand. He flaunted his lust for power in a brazen manner and let down the nation, the army, the security forces, the state electorate and the Election Commission. The PDP on May 15 declared in the presence of Nirmal Singh and another BJP minister Priya Sethi that Jammu could not be given AIIMS, as it didn't deserve it, and the artificial lake project over Tawi could be shelved, both remained mum, thus endorsing the stand of the PDP on the AIIMS and the Lake and letting down the people of Jammu province.
On Sunday, PDP leader, spokesperson of the government and the cabinet (of which the BJP is a part) and Education Minister Naeem Akhtar snubbed senior BJP leader and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and said that Parrikar didn't know even ABC of constitution and laws. "The Supreme Court has, in its judgement, made it clear that arms cannot be given to a civilian to kill and anybody doing so will be an abettor of the offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. So if somebody (in this case Manohar Parrikar) has made any statement on the issue, he must be completely ignorant about the law," Akhtar said while openly snubbing and ridiculing the Indian Defence Minister.
The remarks of Akhtar came as Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's recent statement that "terrorists have to be neutralized only through terrorists" had triggered a fresh debate on the issue. The Congress, the NC and the separatists had condemned in one voice the Parrikar's statement. All these condemnations were given prominent space by media. What Akhtar said about Parrikar was also given ample space by media. Ironically, neither the BJP spokesperson in the state nor any of the BJP national spokespersons defended Parrikar. By maintaining a criminal silence, all the BJP spokespersons gave everyone to understand that the BJP had not taken an exception to the criticism of Parrikar.
The silence of the BJP and its spokespersons should establish that the BJP has no self-respect and that it is not a party with a difference. In fact, the silence suggested that the BJP is the only party in India which doesn't care for its self-respect. The manner in which it has been behaving would surely create a situation that would make India BJP-free. |
