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| PDP's provocative Indian map a blessing in disguise, but… | | | NEHA
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Feb 14: PDP president and Leader of Opposition Mehbooba Mufti's February 12 "power-point presentation" on the party's vision on Kashmir in which she accepted China's sovereignty over Aksai Chin and the Karakoram region has evoked strong reaction from unexpected quarters. While the BJP and the Congress, and even the Panthers Party, have preferred not to speak on the issue of great national import for reasons best known to them, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah have come out openly against Mehbooba Mufti and her party, which, like former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, wants self-rule (read a step short of complete independence from India) for J&K.
Unexpected quarters because while the Home Minister has been consistently suggesting a "unique solution" to resolve the "political issue" of Kashmir, notwithstanding the State's legal accession to India, the Chief Minister has publicly stated that the State only acceded to India and did not merge with it. Their bitter criticism of the PDP president is surprising all the more because while the Home Minister has on several occasions stated that "solutions applicable to the problems facing different parts of country could not be replicated in J&K because of its unique geography and unique history", the Chief Minister has been consistently terming J&K as a "political problem that needs a political solution" to satisfy the political urges of the people (read urges of a section of the Kashmiri population).
Notwithstanding what the Home Minister and the Chief Minister have said in the past regarding J&K, the stand they have taken on what the PDP president said during her "power-point presentation" is quite appreciable. In fact, the PDP's stand on Aksai Chin and the Karakoram could be construed as a blessing in disguise because it has made the Home Minister and the Chief Minister adopt a line that is consistent with the age-old stand of India on the areas, including Aksai Chin and the Karakoram region. India considers, and very rightly, all these strategic northern areas as its integral parts.
The Union Minister has warned the PDP leadership that "action" could be taken against the party in case it failed to correct its "mistake." "The PDP has made a mistake and will face action if they do not correct it," the Home Minister has, according to UNI, said. On the other hand, the Chief Minister has not only denounced the PDP president for her attempt at equating what happened in Egypt and what has been happening in Kashmir, but has also slammed the PDP for its controversial and provocative map of J&K. "Gifting away" of the J&K's territories to China will not be acceptable. "It is up to the PDP how they would want to clear this (map). I don not think it is acceptable to anyone that part of State's territory is gifted away like this," he said yesterday in Jammu.
What the Home Minister and the Chief Minister have said could be legitimately construed as a blistering attack on the PDP leadership in the sense that they have taken a line that doesn't really fit in their scheme of things. But the question is: Will they stick to what both of them have said and will they take action against the erring PDP? Or, will they let the PDP leadership go scot-free, saying democracy is a battle of ideas and everyone in the country has the right to free speech? Why these questions? Why because separatists, extremists and terrorists have been roaming about freely in Kashmir and enjoying official hospitality. |
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