x

Like our Facebook Page

   
Early Times Newspaper Jammu, Leading Newspaper Jammu
 
Breaking News :   In the Shadows of Raja: “Bou Buttu Bhuta” Redefines Odia Cinema with Spectral Allegory of Rural Struggle | The role of the Anganwadi worker has evolved in tandem | Mental rabies means distance from humans, closeness with dogs | Today, Students must be Empowered to Choose not just what is “Safe,” | Sainik Sahayta Kendra | Under PM Modi’s leadership, J&K emerging as education, innovation hub: LG Sinha | Statehood to J&K: Cong mobilizing support of all 233 opposition Lok Sabha members to mount pressure | Kavinder Gupta assumes charge as Ladakh LG | ‘Want Ladakh to be recognised top tourism destination’ | DGP Prabhat reviews Bhadarwah security | CM Omar interacts with citizens at Raabita office in Srinagar | US designates LeT proxy TRF responsible for Pahalgam attack as terrorist organisation | Fresh batch of over 7,900 pilgrims leaves for holy cave shrine | Ahead of ‘Monsoon Session,’ Rajnath, Shah discuss ‘Operation Sindoor’ with NSA, tri-service chiefs | Truck hits car carrying Amarnath pilgrims, 8 injured | Man killed in Kathua accident | Traffic management committee | ACB arrests JDA official for accepting bribe | IT Deptt enables online utility for ITR-2 filing | CISF achieves record medal haul in 2024-25 | Jammu admin disburses Rs 24. 60 lakh compensation in 1 month | ZPHQ Jammu organises farewell ceremony | Janipur police nabs drug peddler wit 5 grams of heroin substance | Farooq hails Congress for taking up J&K statehood issue | CM Yogi's water conservation drive yields remarkable results in UP | DB upheld acquittal of KZF members | ADGP Armed felicitated DySP (Retd) Surjeet Choudhary | 75th anniversary of NSSO celebrated in Jammu | Dr Andrabi visits Eidgah Srinagar, meets youth delegations | Every disaster a lesson to learn from: CS | Doda police traced out missing lady and re-united with her family | Ramban police organized 'BHAROSA' awareness programmes | Improving infrastructure in lord Krishna's land is priority: Hema Malini | YRS will announce president after 23rd September celebration | APS Akhnoor hosts inspiring felicitation ceremony | Fake social media accounts being used to spark caste tensions, says CM Yogi Adityanath | Kathua police arrests absconder evading arrest | JKAACL organizes plantation campaign | The World Stands with Bharat, A Resounding Blow to Pakistan-Backed Terrorism: Gaurav | CS to kick start Vicharnag Temple renovation work today | NC workers join SBSP | Central University of Jammu organizes "Thursday Mind Meet" | Jammu police gifts selfie point to Akhnoor after national recognition | SKUAST-Jammu organizes ZREAC Kharif meeting | LPU inaugurates Real-World Tech Workplaces at Campus with Capgemini Code Experience Lab | DDC Kathua approves Rs 74.52 Cr District Capex Budget for FY 2025-26 | Bovine smuggling bid foiled by Doda police | First meeting of the 56th IFFI steering committee held in Mumbai | Inter-Nursing College Poster Competition held | Akhnnor Sports Club honours badminton players | India U-31 team wins bronze, U-16 finishes fourth in World Youth Team Bridge Championships | World Women's Chess Cup: All four Indians to play tie-breaks | Jadeja's "incredible fight" at Lord's Test earns him Team India's MVP tag | Free entry for Durand Cup at Jamshedpur | Didn't know that a national women's football team existed when I started out: Aditi Chauhan | Back Issues  
 
news details
Article 370 and UTs of J&K and Ladakh: Dr Karan Singh, GN Azad face to face with each other
Prof Hari Om8/13/2019 10:45:29 PM
The epoch-making decisions of PM Narendra Modi and HM Amit Shah to scrap divisive, discriminatory Articles 35A and 370 and create Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have divided senior Congress leaders at the national level. The story of the Congress in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir is no different. Two senior most Congress leaders - former Sadar-e-Riyasat Karan Singh and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad - have spoken in different languages. It only indicated that things have started changing. It is a positive development.
No one had really expected that Karan Singh would support the initiatives of PM Modi and HM Shah on Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh but it happened on August 8, the day Azad condemned the Modi Government in downright language. For, Karan Singh was a bitter criticof Narendra Modi's Jammu and Kashmir policy till the other day. His interventions in the Rajya Sabha, his recent interviews and what he repeatedly said during the 2019 election campaign at different places in Jammu had all indicated that he was for the state's special status. So much so, he had on occasions more than one asserted that the accession of the state to India was conditional - a statement which many exploited to support the outrageous suggestions of Kashmiri politicians that the state's political future was yet to be decided.
Azad, who was not allowed to venture out of the Srinagar Airport and sent back to New Delhi, had, among other things, said: "Jammu and Kashmir State has been massacred by the Modi Government. People of the state have lost their identity after becoming part of a Union Territory from one of the largest and important States of the country one time…All the laws made by the State Government have been scrapped, Article 370 has been diluted and Article 35A has been taken out. One of the most famous States in the world has been divided into two UTs…The people of Jammu and Kashmir have lost their identity and the pride of the state, which once had a Maharaja and a Prime Minister and later for 18 years had the pride of having the President (Sadar-e-Riyasat). Jammu and Kashmir had a Governor and a Chief Minister. Today, it will have only Lt Governor. It is shame on the part of this (Modi) Government that this pride has been lost".
In contrast, Karan Singh and his son Vikramaditya, who had lost the Lok Sabha election from the Kathua-Udhampur-Doda constituency to the BJP, took a line totally differentfrom that of Azad. Both Karan Singh and Vikramaditya supported the Narendra Modi Government's initiatives on Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and identified themselves with the nation's mood. Karan Singh appreciated the creation of UT of Ladakh, abrogation of Article 35A, the idea of fresh delimitation, reservations for the SCs and STs and right to vote to the refugees from West Pakistan, the Valmiki Samaj and so on. He candidly said that he didn't agree with a "blanket condemnation of the Government's decision on Jammu and Kashmir and pointed out what he called were its several positives". Of course, he didn't comment directly on Article 370. But it didn't matter much in the sense that he had extended his unflinching support to other features of the reform scheme as handed down to the nation by the PM and the HM. I would not cross the line if I say that Karan Singh did oppose Article 370 but in a sophisticated manner.
It would be only prudent to quote verbatim the relevant portion from what Karan Singh said to clinch the issue and put things in perspective. He said: "Ladakh's emergence as UT is to be welcomed…The gender discrimination in Article 35A needed to be addressed as also the long-awaited enfranchisement of West Pakistan refugees and reservation for Scheduled Tribes will be welcomed. The bifurcation of the state meant there will be delimitation in future. There will be a fresh delimitation which, for the first time, will ensure a fair division of political power between Jammu and Kashmir regions".
As for Vikramaditya, he went a step further and said that he fully supported the step for full integration of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union of India and its reorganization. "This is the beginning of a new era for all of us in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The full integration of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union of India and its reorganization is indeed a step I fully support. Now, women and minority communities in Jammu and Kashmir will enjoy equal rights under the Constitution of India," Vikramaditya said.
What does all this suggest? It suggests a radical change in the attitude of Karan Singh and Vikramaditya towards Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. A change which must have rattled the Azads, the Abdullahs, the Muftis and all those who never considered Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh an integral part of India and those who vouched for such divisive and break-India demands as greater autonomy, self-rule, Indo-Pakistan joint-control over the state, dual currency, soft borders, demilitarization, Sharia banking and so on. A change which will go a long way in assuaging the hurt feelings of the people of Jammu and Ladakh. A change that suggests that Karan Singh and Vikramaditya have finally seen the writing on the wall and sensed the mood of the nation in general and of the people of Jammu and Ladakh in particular.
As far as Ghulam Nabi Azad is concerned, what he said in anger didn't surprise anyone. He has lost his way. Actually, he had exposed himself in 2007, when his coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir rejected a number of nation-building Private Members' Bills and introduced Sharia. The Private Members' Bills which were rejected by his government included Bills on Secularism and Socialism, National Flag, Delimitation, Citizenship Rights to Refugees from West Pakistan and Life of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. All these landmark Private Members' Bills were rejected in no time by the Congress, the PDP, the NC and the PDF lawmakers.
It is hoped that all Jammu-based politicians belonging to the Congress, the NC and the PDP would follow the path charted by PM Narendra Modi and HM Amit Shah and work in tandem to defeat separatists and Jihad. They need to appreciate the fact that the wall of hatred created by Articles 35A and 370 now stands demolished and Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh stand integrated completely into India. They must say no to divisive and destroy-India Nehruvian model.
  Share This News with Your Friends on Social Network  
  Comment on this Story  
 
 
 
Early Times Android App
STOCK UPDATE
  
BSE Sensex
NSE Nifty
 
CRICKET UPDATE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
Home About Us Top Stories Local News National News Sports News Opinion Editorial ET Cetra Advertise with Us ET E-paper
 
 
J&K RELATED WEBSITES
J&K Govt. Official website
Jammu Kashmir Tourism
JKTDC
Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board
Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board
Shri Shiv Khori Shrine Board
UTILITY
Train Enquiry
IRCTC
Matavaishnodevi
BSNL
Jammu Kashmir Bank
State Bank of India
PUBLIC INTEREST
Passport Department
Income Tax Department
JK CAMPA
JK GAD
IT Education
Web Site Design Services
EDUCATION
Jammu University
Jammu University Results
JKBOSE
Kashmir University
IGNOU Jammu Center
SMVDU