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| Chidambaram accords respectability to politics of separatism | | Two disturbing developments in Kashmir | | Neha
JAMMU, Oct 3: On October 2, the entire nation remembered the contributions of Lal Bahadur Shastri to the unity and integrity of India and process of regeneration of the Indian society, economy and polity. Shastri had order the Army in 1965 to march towards Lahore and open fronts in Rajasthan to teach Pakistan a lesson and the Indian Army under his able and inspiring leadership inflicted a crushing defeat on Pakistan.
But, unfortunately, in Kashmir two disturbing developments took place. One development took place in the Kashmir University under the very nose of State Governor NN Vohra on October 2 and the occasion was a special convocation. The students present in the Convocation Hall refused to stand up when the National Song was sung. Earlier, some students had walked out of the hall.
The other development took place a day before during the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank and the only difference was that it was none other than Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram who behaved in a most irresponsible manner and spoke against the AFSPA and for the interlocutors' nasty report that considers Jammu and Kashmir a disputed territory, wants New Delhi to convert the temporary divisive, communal, anti-people and anti-democratic Article 370 into a permanent feature of the Indian Constitution, seeks to divide Jammu province on communal lines along the Chenab River, denounces the AFSPA as draconian and holds New Delhi responsible for the alienation of Kashmiri Muslims - a report that also dismisses Jammu and Ladakh as irrelevant and seeks to force down their throat a pernicious anti-India ideology. Actually, the interlocutors wanted to recommend "Azadi" for the entire State of Jammu and Kashmir, but they failed because their open statement in this regard in the Kashmir University had created a furore across the country.
This is the report P Chidambaram wants New Delhi to implement in letter and spirit so that the separatist urge of Kashmir could be fulfilled and India withdrew from the entire State. During the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Chidambaram, among other things, said: "Initiatives taken by him on Kashmir when he was the Home Minister should be 'carried forward'. I wish the interlocutors' report and the initiative taken by the all-parties delegation should have been taken forward. I still hope these initiatives can be carried forward…There is still scope for reducing the footprints of the security forces in Kashmir and the process of amending the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is still on. We don't claim that we resolved all issues".
The Government of India had appointed Dilip Padgaonkar, Radha Kumar and MM Ansari as three interlocutors in October 2010 to look into the circumstances leading to the summer unrest in Kashmir which resulted in 110 deaths and recommend measures which could end "alienation" of Kashmir people and resolve the Kashmir issue. They submitted their report in October 2011 and the report is under active consideration of the Union Government. The report, when made public, had created furore with the people of Jammu and Ladakh and many political parties rejecting outrightly the report saying it was a dangerous document that needed to be torn up and thrown away.
It is a matter of grave concern that P Chidambaram vouched for this divisive report, instead of telling the gathering that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and that New Delhi will take action against those talking against India and taking the law of the land into their hands. The local Congress leadership needs to clear its stand on what Chidambaram said in Kashmir failing which it would be construed that it endorses the Chidambaram's line on Kashmir. |
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