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| NC unleashes misinformation campaign | | PDP agrees to join debate on Article 370 | | ET Report
JAMMU, May 29: The main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP), which inflicted a crushing defeat on the ruling National Conference in the just-held Lok Sabha elections and snatched all the three seats from it, on Wednesday agreed to join the debate on Article 370. It was none other than the senior PDP leader and member Lok Sabha Muzzaffar Hussain Beig, former Deputy Chief Minister, who made an announcement that the PDP was willing to participate in the debate and the issue should be brought to the Parliament for the purpose. Notwithstanding the fact that he didn't agree to the suggestion seeking abrogation of Article 370, his endorsement of the suggestion regarding debate on it to settle the issue once and for all indicated a positive change in its attitude towards the issue that has been a subject of controversy since 1950. He, like his party president Mehbooba Mufti, who also won the Lok Sabha election from the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency, did say that Article 370 is a constitutional link between Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the country and its abrogation could lead to serious problems in the Valley and, at the same time, expressed the view that there is no harm in discussing the issue threadbare. It's a welcome change. After all, democracy means settlement of controversial issues through discussion and debate. The change in its attitude is all the more significant that the PDP and the BJP has won an equal number of seats and they would sit in the country's highest law-making body.
Beig not only displayed political maturity by adopting a positive approach towards the issue, but also warned that the NC could exploit the issue and politicize it to divert the attention of the people of Kashmir away from the real issues, including its misdeeds and utter failures. His argument was that since the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are round the corner and since the rejected and unpopular NC leadership has nothing to offer to the people, the likes of Omar Abdullah could exploit the controversy for political gains. Beig did make a valid point. Omar Abdullah and his henchmen have already made a mountain out of a mole-hill and unleashed a misinformation campaign. So much so, Omar Abdullah has threatened that Jammu and Kashmir will not remain a part of India in case Article 370 is abolished. His provocative and unwarranted threat has been rightly termed by many in the state and outside as an act of sedition. Indeed, his committed an "act of sedition" despite the fact that he holds a constitutional position.
One of the NC leaders from Jammu, who is more loyal than the king, has gone to the extent of saying that "Article 370 preserves my identity and identity of Jammu and Kashmir" and that those demanding a debate on Article 370 "are only playing with fire". It is strange that a party which failed to get even 10 per cent of the total votes polled in Kashmir and has no taker in Jammu province and Ladakh region has, instead of reading the writing on the wall, thought it proper to insult and abuse the nationalist constituency in the state, which is very large and which occupies more than 88 per cent of the state's land area. The fact of the matter is that the NC has unleashed a campaign aimed at communalizing the situation in Kashmir to win back the trust of the constituency it has alienated through its acts of omission and commission, misrule and arrogance. The fear as expressed by the PDP leader needs to be viewed in this context. It is, however, a different story that the NC's dirty trick department will fail, as the people in the Kashmir valley are totally fed up with this party of communalists and votaries of the two-nation.
It is the responsibility of the PDP to defeat the sinister game plan of the NC in the Valley. It has leadership that can controvert the baneful influence of the NC. It has just won the election and it has a constituency in the Valley that can take care of the issueless and directionless NC leadership. |
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