Ram Madhav: J&K to remain integral part of India Ram MadhavThis comes after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has raised the pitch against the Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office Jitendra Singhs comments on repealing Article 370, saying that the Constituent Assembly will have to be recalled if the new BJP-led government at the Centre plans to pursue this agenda. You cannot repeal Article 370 until the Constituent Assembly is constituted all over again. The Constituent Assembly gave its assent to the accession of Kashmir with India, Abdullah said, a day after he took a strong exception to Singhs claim that the new BJP-led government at the Centre had started the process of repealing Article 370. J&K will no longer be a part of India if Article 370 is abrogated, Abdullah had said. Madhav was reacting to this claim. Madhav also asked whether Abdullah thought the state was his parental estate and said no one should take offence to any open-ended debate on Article 370. Even as Singh has claimed since that he was misquoted on the subject, Abdullah latched on to the emotive issue just days after his National Conference party lost three Lok Sabha seats to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party. I understand the political compulsion of the BJP but the party should ponder upon the promises they have made to the people. Why attack J&K first? he asked. After a meeting of the partys core group, National Conference (NC) provincial president Nasir Sogami led workers to the main road to register their protest against BJPs hidden agenda. Raising the old slogan your honour, my honour: Article 370, Sogami said the party would take the issue to the people. Abdullah has been consistently asserting that J&K has not merged but acceded to India. Interestingly, Singhs younger brother, business tycoon Dewinder Singh Rana is heading the party in Jammu and is a close aide of Omar. However, the ruling party was not alone in slamming Singhs comments. If you are attempting any change in Article 370, it means you want to renegotiate a new relationship with J&K, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said. You will have to ask the people about their decision then. That means you are giving a choice to J&K to renegotiate its future. Is BJP ready to do that? I do not think so. Mufti said Singhs statement, although retracted quickly, needed to be condemned because it vindicated apprehensions that with Modi at the helm, the BJP government could be divisive. She lauded Modi, though, for inviting SAARC leaders for his swearing-in ceremony, PTI adds. On one hand Modi was trying to connect with the neighbours and was having talks with Nawaz Sharif, one of his ministers, on the other hand, issued a statement that has a potential to divide J&K on communal lines, she said. The PDP president said she hoped this was the last time abrogation of Article 370 was being discussed. If BJP wants to bring the J&K people closer, they should talk about strengthening Article 370 rather than abolishing it, she said. I hope Dr Singh does not put the foot in his mouth again and the Prime Minister intervenes and disciplines his ministers.
Posted on: Thu, 29 May 2014 09:02:55 +0000
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