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| 'Supporters Vs Opponents' slug it out | | Abrogation of Article 370 | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, May 28: Locked in bitter battle of words, the opponents and supporters of Article 370, have come out in the open with 'points and counterpoints' on abrogating and continuing with the constitutional provision extending 'special status' to the state of Jammu & Kashmir. While Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJSP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Panun Kashmir (PK) and All India Backward Class Union (AIBCU) favoured repealing of Article 370, the Congress was the only exception who opposed any such move. Taking a dig at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for his remarks on Article 370, the BJP said that he has no right to speak for J&K as his party got decimated in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections and got only less than 10 percent of the total votes polled. Addressing a press conference at party headquarters here today, BJP leader Prof Hari Om said that Omar Abdullah must not cross the line by making irresponsible and provocative statements on the political status of the State of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh,. Prof Hari Om was reacting to Omar Abdullah's Tuesday divisive statement that the State will secede from India if Article 370 is abrogated. "J&K acceded to India on October 26, 1947, whereas Article 370 was adopted by the Indian Constituent Assembly on October 17, 1949 as a purely temporary measure. Article 370 has nothing to do with the accession or otherwise of the state with India. J&K was one of 560-odd princely states which acceded to India by signing an Instrument of Accession and there was no difference whatsoever between the Instrument of Accession signed by the Maharaja of J&K and the ones signed by other princes. Under the Indian Independence Act of 1947, princes alone had the power to decide the political future of their respective states and they exercised it linking the fate of their states either with India or Pakistan. Almost all the princely states acceded to India," said Prof Hari Om, and added that the accession is final and irrevocable.Ridiculing the claim of Omar Abdullah that the abrogation of Article 370 would reopen the whole issue of accession and the state will secede from India the moment it is repealed, Prof Hari Om said that the Indian Parliament has full authority to amend or repeal it. "Article 370 is part of the Indian Constitution and the Parliament the highest legislative body in the country invested with the power to amend the statute book. Using Article 368, it can amend or repeal any of the provisions of Indian Constitution as and when needed by the exigency of the situation. Even the President of India can amend or abrogate Article 370. The Indian Constitution doesn't give the right to secede to any state. There should be no doubt about it," he said.Prof Hari Om also rubbished the claim of Omar Abdullah that Article 370 cannot be amended or repealed because J&K doesn't have Constituent Assembly and said that it is an untenable argument. "Article 370 is not sacrosanct and infallible. It has caused immense damage to J&K and its people, as also to the national cause in the state, as it has been misused by the likes of Omar Abdullah to hamper the process of the state's integration with India and promote separatism and communalism to further their vested interests," he said, and added that a vast majority of the people in the state are bitterly opposed to anti-democratic, anti-people and divisive Article 370. There must be a debate on Article 370 so that it is repealed in the larger national interest and interest of the people of the state, he said. The BJP is committed to preparing ground in a democratic manner for the abrogation of this Article that is mother of all the ills facing the people of the state and nation in Kashmir. Another senior BJP leader Fayaz Ahmad Bhat advocated discussion on Article 370. In a press statement, Bhat said that all parties including Congress, PDP and NC have made futile attempt to misinterpret the media statement of MoS PM's office Jitendra Singh Rana. Rana had only stated that discussion on 370 is more fruitful but both NC and PDP try to misinterpret word 'discussion' with 'abolition' and try to mislead the people of Kashmir. J&K state unit of Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJSP) has demanded immediate initiation of steps to revoke Article 370 from the Indian constitution which grants special status to J&K.The Article was kept as a temporary provision in the constitution, to be eroded gradually and ultimately die its own death, LJSP has added. A meeting of the J&K unit of LJSP held here today under the chairmanship of its President Sham Lal Gupta has stated that the J&K unit of the party fully endorses and stands by the BJP demand for revocation of this divisive provision, which encourages separatism as well as is against the overall interest of the people of the state.
The Article deprives the people of J&K of some fundamental rights provided to the people by the Indian constitution and the Article only serves the vested interests of a handful of families in the state, he added. LJP has appealed its Central leadership to take firm stand for rescinding of Article 370, since it is detrimental to the development and progress of J&K state.
Gupta strongly condemned Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's reaction to the suggestion for abrogation of Article 370 and holding of wide debate over the subject to discuss threadbare its advantages and disadvantages to the common people in J&K. He has termed Omar Abdullah's remarks that either Article will continue or Kashmir will not remain part of India as an act of sedition and treason. NCP too joined the bandwagon of those who support abrogation of Article 370. Replying to the query of media persons regarding the abrogation of Article 370, state NCP president Randhir Singh said that it has outlived its utility and common man has not been benefitted from this constitutional provision and only few politicians and families have exploited Article 370 for their personal gains.
"This provision has given rise to separatist tendencies and I think these are my sincere views that a thorough debate should be held on the usefulness of the Article 370 and every right thinking person in the national interest as well as in the interests of people of Jammu , Kashmir and Ladakh would definitely support the scraping of this provision and there is a need of the hour to provide Union territory status to Ladakh and Jammu as a separate state," said Randhir Singh adding that small is always beautiful. Panun Kashmir, an amalgam of Kashmiri Pandit organizations, also supported the idea of abrogating Article 370.
PK's statement came a day after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said Jammu and Kashmir will not be a part of India if Article 370 is revoked.
"It needs to be clarified that the Article 370 is a temporary provision in the Indian Constitution which was never intended to be a permanent statute," Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, President, Panun Kashmir said in a statement. He said in the debates leading up to the framing of the Constitution, the worthy members of the Constituent Assembly never favoured it as a permanent feature.
The PK leader, however, welcomed the statement of Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the PMO, regarding abrogation of Article 370. He said, "The statement is well timed and speaks volumes about the intentions of the new government about the mandated agenda on Jammu and Kashmir".
"It is ridiculous that J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah should threaten to secede in case Article 370 is abrogated. Unfortunately he seems ignorant of the fact that the Indian Constitution does not allow secession from the Indian territory," he added. Expelled BJP leader Prof Chaman Lal Gupta while talking to a Srinagar based news agency said that BJP must contest the forthcoming assembly elections with the agenda of scarping state's special status. Gupta said that it is the need of the hour that BJP should go to people for votes with the promise that it will work for scraping of Article 370. "I believe that it should be the policy of the BJP to contest the forthcoming assembly polls in the state with the agenda of scarping Article 370. It is of no use now." Gupta while backing the statement of Dr Jitendra stated that when Jammu and Kashmir is like the other sates of India then why the special status is needed as the same has no relevance at present. "It the time of its formation, the Article was needed for the accession and when the state is an integral part of Indian Union, its vitality stands nowhere."
Echoing the statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi made at Jammu during the election rally that BJP is ready to debate Article 370; Gupta stated that all concerned parties will be taken into confidence and will be made understand that Article 370 is doing more harm top to the state than delivering goods.
Commenting over remarks of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and other parties that scraping Article 370 will infringe upon the instrument of accession, the senior leader said that the parties are using the decades old rhetoric. "Let them say what they are saying. I believe that Article 370 must go for the greater common good."All India Backward Class Union (AIBCU) stated that controversy over Article 370 is the outcome of the misdeeds of ruling coalition of the National Conference and Congress in the state. In a meeting of the All India Backward Class Union (AIBCU), the matter of "controversy over Article 370" was taken up and after threadbare discussion participants arrived at the result that controversy so arisen is due to the misuse of Article 370. Why Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Prof. Soz speak with such a voluminous sound about Article 370 say, "If Article 370 is scrapped India will lose J&K State?" Meanwhile, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) has opposed the purported moves of the BJP led NDA government to go ahead with abrogation of Article 370. PCC Chief and Member Parliament Prof Saifuddin Soz MP in a statement issued said, "Those who seek a debate on the Article 370 of the Constitution of India are making a basic mistake of not appreciating the fact that this Article is an integral Part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India and it can neither be amended nor abrogated by any authority in India, unless the people of Jammu and Kashmir themselves want it." He further said that this Article is the only mechanism through which Centre Laws get extended to the J&K State, as and when the State wants. This Article has also been devised as a bridge between the State and the Union of India. The people of the J&K State should particularly appreciate the fact that for the past 25 years or more, the BJP has been making three issues, their poll plank - Abrogation of Article 370, adoption of Common Civil Code and Construction of Ram Temple; but soon after the elections are over they put these issues on back burner, said Soz. Commenting on the Statement of Union MoS PMO Dr Jitendra Singh, Sr. Vice President J&K Pradesh Congress Committee, Abdul Gani Vakil said that Congress is committed to uphold and strengthen the special status of J&K and the party will oppose every small or big move to dilute Article 370. He said that some forces who are thinking of weakening or eroding this article are inimical to peace and tranquility in the state. Vakil said that after accession Article 370 has proved a vital bridge between India and J&K and Congress will never allow anybody to weaken this bridge.
BJP's policy of grabbing land in the state to facilitate settlement of communal forces here cannot be permitted and not an inch of land of the state will be given or provided to such forces. Congress in the interest of the nation will vehemently fight abrogation move in and outside the Parliament, he added. |
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