news details |
|
|
| Deviation from Vajpayee line provokes separatists, "mainstream formations" | | BJP & Kashmir - I | |
RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Dec 26: It was expected that what the top-ranking BJP leaders spoke in Jammu on December 23 and 24 would provoke Kashmiri leaders of all hues, including separatists, and it has actually happened. Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, Yasin Malik, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and others of their ilk have denounced the BJP leadership and its stand on J&K. Similarly, the Kashmir-based "mainstream" leaders like PDP patron and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and CPI-M leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, too, have roundly criticized the BJP leadership for what it said regarding the state in the winter capital, Jammu. Even one Jammu-based NC leader and minister in the Omar Abdullah-led coalition government Surjit Singh Slathia has not lagged behind. He, too, has joined hands with the Kashmiri leaders and attacked the BJP leadership.
What had the BJP leaders said on December 23 and 23? They had only said: Accession of the state to India is final and irrevocable"; ""J&K is an integral part of India"; the J&K Chief Minister "must refrain from raking up the accession issue"; "Pakistan has no locus standi in J&K", "Pakistan has been fomenting trouble in Kashmir because it wants to annex it, because Kashmir, according to Islamabad, is the unfinished agenda of partition"; "Pakistan-occupied-Jammu and Kashmir is also an integral part of India"; "the BJP will not allow anyone to compromise the Indian position in J&K"; "deal firmly and resolutely with separatists and militants in Kashmir"; "don't withdraw from the state AFSPA or dilute it"; "the Army that is fighting for the defence of the country in Kashmir needs protection and the AFSPA does provide for the required protection"; "the interlocutors must not pay visits to Kashmiri separatists because visiting them on their own would mean giving legitimacy to them"; "New Delhi should talk to the Kashmiri separatists only if the latter takes the initiative"; "Article 370 must go lock, stock and barrel because it is the root cause of all troubles in Kashmir, as also because it has caused huge damage to the refugees from West Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir"; "Article 370 has not allowed complete political and constitutional integration of the state into India" and "its abrogation is imperative in order to integrate the state fully into India"; "Article 370 must go because it has discouraged the Indian business houses to invest in the state"; "the BJP would unleash a campaign at the national level if the Congress-led UPA Government accepts such separatist demands as greater autonomy and self-rule"; "the BJP rejects outright the idea of the state becoming independent of India"; "Jammu and Ladakh have never been given their due share in the state's political and economic processes" and that "there is the need to set up a provincial council for Jammu province"; "the refugees from West Pakistan be given all the citizenship rights"; and so on.
Even a superficial glance at what the various BJP leaders said in Jammu would be enough to conclude that whatever they said was absolutely correct. There was nothing whatever in the statements or assertions made by them that could even remotely suggest that they were parochial in their approach. They simply made statements of facts and put things in a proper perspective.
Did they indulge in communalism by saying that J&K was an integral part of India or did they indulge in communalism by saying that Pakistan had no locus standi in the State? They did not. They only spoke the truth, and nothing but the truth. Did they cross the line when they advised the interlocutors and New Delhi not to yield and talk only when the Kashmiri separatists and extremists express their willingness for talks? They did not. They only referred to the approach any self-respecting state adopts towards those wrecking the institution of the state or seeking separation on religious grounds. Did they indulge in any kind of communalism when they made it amply clear that the solution had to be within the constitutional framework of India and that greater autonomy and self-rule demands just could not be conceded. They did not. They only defended the Indian Constitution. The fact of the matter is that the BJP leaders did well to tell the UPA Government and the Kashmiri separatists that all of their attempts at weakening the Indian position in the state would be defeated and that New Delhi should adopt a pro-active approach towards the aggressive Pakistan. There was nothing in what they said that could in anyway be construed as a manifestation of their communal approach to the issues facing the country in the state. (To be continued) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
