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| Amarnath yatra to be BJP’s nation campaign plank | | | Early Times Report
Jammu | Sept 12
As expected in the election season, the Bhartiya Janta Party has taken over not only the Shri Amarnath Yatra issue but also the whole gamut of Jammu and Kashmir –a matter of nationalism –as a major plank for the poll campaign.
The National Executive meeting of the BJP which went underway in Bangalore today had Jammu and Kashmir as a dominant subject of fiery debates even as the party president Rajnath Singh projected the senior leader LK Advani as Prime Ministerial candidate.
Calling for nationlisation of the Shri Amarnath Yatra, the BJP also asked the Election Commission of India to take action against all those political parties which have directly or indirectly supporting the separatist campaign in Kashmir Valley. BJP’s obvious reference was to National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party.
Speaking at the BJP's national executive meeting in Bangalore, party President Rajnath Singh said the Amarnath Yatra is not only a pilgrimage but also signfies the vibrancy of relations between the Kashmir valley and the rest of India. During the two months of pilgrimage, the interior parts of Kashmir valley get emotionally linked with the rest of India, he said.
"Therefore, this pilgrimage symbolises national integration. That is why I consider this yatra to be of national importance", Singh said. "It is in this context that I am demanding that the central government should nationalise the road of the Amarnath Yatra so that in future no attempt is made to disturb the social harmony for political reasons".
The demand comes after the Jammu and Kashmir government agreed to hand over management of the land along the yatra route to the cave shrine management for two months of the pilgrimage to reach a settlement with Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti which had been leading an agitation in Jammu to press the demand.
Singh demanded that the government should mark a special area in Kashmir Valley for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits.
The BJP reiterated its position seeking abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution.
"I appeal to all the political parties of the country that in the light of the recent controversies in Jammu and Kashmir, should they not once again reconsider their policies regarding abrogation of Article 370 ?", he said and called for a consensus on the issue.
Singh also said if a BJP government is formed at the Centre, the Ram Sethu would be declared as a national heritage monument."And if any problem arises in declaring the Sri Ram Sethu as a national heritage monument, "then we will amend the rules and regulations accordingly and also try to get it listed among the world heritage sites of the UNESCO", he said. |
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