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| J&K: Congress, BJP on the same page | | Political Settlement -- I | | Rustam
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, July 14: The BJP once again demonstrated its ambivalence as far as its stand on Jammu and Kashmir was concerned in the interlocutors-sponsored roundtable conference in Jammu. The July 13 statement of the interlocutors that the "the remarks convinced many of the participants that national political parties would show flexibility and wisdom to reach a broad consensus on a political settlement in Jammu and Kashmir." The interlocutors referred to the presentations/interventions of Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyer and BJP MP Rajan Sushant. The very fact that the interlocutors praised both the MPs was a clear hint that both the national parties are on the same page as far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned. It was not for nothing that the interlocutors made such a public statement. There was substance in the interlocutors' statement. And, why not?
It is hardly necessary to discuss the Congress stand on Jammu and Kashmir. For, it is too well-known that the Kashmir problem is the creation of the Congress; it is because of the follies of the Congress that the nation has been paying a very heavy price ever since October 1947. Hence, it would be only appropriate to point out the role the BJP delegates played in the roundtable conference. It's true that the BJP MP reportedly demanded abrogation of Article 370, talked about discrimination, talked about 73th and 74th amendments and raised a couple of other issues. But he, according to one serious participant in the roundtable conference, had nothing in his political dictionary to counter the delegates from Kashmir accusing India of not fulfilling the promises New Delhi made with Kashmiri leaders from time to time. The delegates from Kashmir, unlike the BJP delegates like Sushant, were vocal, unambiguous and candid.
It is important to note that the BJP did nothing to ensure abrogation of Article 370 when it ruled the country for almost six years (1998-2004). As a matter of fact, the BJP abandoned abrogate-Article 370-demand even before assuming power at the centre. It entered into an unholy alliance with several so-called secular formations and worked out Common Minimum Programme (CPM) that included everything suggested by the non-BJP formations but excluded the BJP's three lynchpins - Article 370, Uniform Civil Code and Ram Temple - that had endeared the people of the country. The BJP gave up its age-old demands just for the sake of power, thus sending a clear message that it was never really committed to what it had been saying about these three issues since years. Its message was loud and clear and the message was that the BJP could go to any extent to capture power.
That the BJP was not committed to what it had been saying about Article 370 became clear when the state unit of the BJP deleted from its 2008 election manifesto the portion that dealt with Article 370. Leave aside the Vajpayee's statement that "Article 370 shall ever remain part of the Indian Constitution." The election manifesto was released on the eve of the 2008 assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. That was a deliberate move designed to win over the communal constituency in Kashmir and befriend pro-autonomy NC. There was a section in the BJP that had toyed with the idea of forming coalition government with the NC. The BJP think-tanks and election strategists had then hoped that the BJP would capture 20 to 23 seats. They believed that that tally would be enough for the BJP for striking a power-sharing deal with the NC. It is, however, a different story that the people didn't repose faith in the BJP and the result was that the party could capture only 11 seats. (To be continued) |
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