Early Times Report
JAMMU, Jan 5: Some senior Jammu-based Congress leaders and former ministers are hailing Ghulam Nabi Azad's rule in J&K between November 7, 2005 and July 7, 2008. It was only November 5 that he took over as J&K CM and on July 7, he tendered his resignation under pressure from Jammu or because of the massive movement in Jammu over Shri Amarnath land issue.
Hailing Azad, these Congress leaders have said: "National Conference and PDP as and when in power say something and when out of it, they blame the National parties, particularly the Congress for their own failures. Ghulam Nabi Azad though ruled the state for two years and eight months, but people of the State still remembers him for his effective governance".
They willfully ignore what Azad as CM did. What Azad did even Sheikh Abdullah, who was known for his divisive and anti-Jammu and anti-Ladakh credentials, couldn't do. What he did in 2007 and that too in Jammu only suggests that he was no different from other Kashmiri rulers and that he even left behind all his predecessors in certain cases.
Just 7 examples will be enough to put things in perspective and call the Congress' bluff.
One, the JKNPP, one of the coalition partners, moved a "Private Member's Bill" in the Assembly seeking support of the House in favour of the suggestion that there should be only one flag for the state. All the coalition partners, without any exception, and the opposition NC summarily rejected the landmark "Private Member's Bill", which was simply aimed at integrating the state with the rest of the country or bringing the state on a par with other states.
Two, it may sound unbelievable and ludicrous, but it is a fact that all the coalition partners, with the exception of JKNPP, adopted in no time a "Private Member's Bill", which was moved by the opposition NC. The bill provided for one-year imprisonment for those who would not show the kind of respect the state flag deserves. The NC had moved this bill to counter the BJP's age-old one-flag (national flag) and one-constitution (Indian Constitution) slogan. The defeat of the "Private Member's Bill" on national flag and the adoption of the bill on punishment for those not showing due respect to the state flag and the unqualified support extended by the ruling party to the Valley-based outfits had sprang a big surprise.
Three, the BJP legislator moved a "Private Member's Bill seeking citizenship rights for the refugees from West Pakistan, numbering approximately 1.5 lakh. He made a passionate plea to the House that his bill needed to be passed as these hapless refugees had been denied their fundamental rights, including the right to own immovable property in the state, right to contest election to the Assembly and local bodies, right to franchise, right to equality, right to higher and professional education, right to bank loan, right to obtain jobs under the State Government and so on, but with no result. The ruling party and all other parties, barring the JKNPP and the Jammu State Morcha, opposed the bill tooth and nail. The result was the collapse of the bill.
Four, the JKNPP moved another "Private Member's Bill" seeking incorporation of the words "secularism and socialism" in the preamble of the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution. The ruling Congress, its coalition partners, including the Left parties, plus the opposition NC, rejected out-of-hand this bill, thus indicating their negative approach to the cardinal principles of secularism and socialism.
Five, the JKNPP moved yet another "Private Member's Bill" in the Assembly in the same session. It was designed to ensure parity between Kashmir and Jammu as far as their representation in the Assembly was concerned. The bill said that Jammu province and Kashmir division each be divided into 52 Assembly segments so that the Jammu's age-old grievance was redressed. But it was bitterly opposed. The ruling Congress, like the PDP, the NC, the CPI-M and the PDF, repudiated outright this bill.
Six, the NC moved another "Private Member's Bill" on the need to adopt "Sharia" laws. While the ruling coalition extended their unqualified support to this bill and adopted it, the BJP and the JSM opposed it. The ideologue of the PDP and then Deputy Chief Minister, Muzzaffar Hussain Beig, did express some reservations, but ultimately he also voted for the bill.
Seven, the JKNPP moved one more "Private Member's Bill" seeking reduction in the life of the Assembly from six to five years. Its argument was that "since the term of the assemblies in the country was five years, the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly should also be constituted for a period of five years". The Bill was defeated in no time.
All these instances are self-explanatory. |
