Early Times Report
JAMMU, June 7: Situation in Kashmir has worsened. The amnesty to stone-pelters followed by Ramzan ceasefire has upset everything in Kashmir. The situation has worsened to the extent that terrorists and stone-pelters are openly targeting security forces, causing bomb blasts and using deadly devices to further their break-India agenda.
The post-May 16 Kashmir has witnessed more than 2 dozen terror attacks, all on security forces, especially on CRPF. The terrorists have also snatched at least six weapons from J&K police personnel.
The spurt in terror attacks in Kashmir and the manner in which stone-pelters are attacking security forces has only put the ruling BJP on the defensive. It's the BJP which is on the line of fire with all attacking it and terming its Kashmir policy weak, inconsistent and harmful.
The critics of the BJP have suggested three things which, according to them, alone could retrieve the fast-deteriorating situation in the Valley. They have asked the BJP to "suspend the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly and allow the Army and the security forces to restore law and order before any kind of talks begin with parties willing to work within the Indian Union".
Besides, they have asked the BJP to scrap illegal Article 35-A. "Article 35-A must certainly go, as it is illegal. The BJP must take a formal stand on its abolition, and campaign for the rights of other Indian citizens to reside and acquire property in J&K. We cannot forever have a one-sided policy where Kashmiris can settle anywhere, but non-Kashmiris can only be second-class citizens in J&K," they have told the BJP.
Not just this. The critics of the BJP have also demanded abrogation of Article 370 under which the solitary State of J&K enjoys a separate status within the Union.
"Renew the call for the abolition of Article 370. While this needs support in both houses of Parliament, giving up the demand permanently has defanged the BJP, making it toothless. The Article must go, and even if there is no parliamentary support, it must always be a BJP demand," they have said.
The point, in short, is that the BJP has to act and act now. If it fails, it would meet the fate the Congress met in 2014. In other words, the BJP will perish if it fails to appreciate the national sentiment, national requirement and national need. |
