BJP attempting to dilute JK’s special status: Omar
Says many other Indian states enjoy provisions of unique standing
Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and vice president National Conference (NC) Omar Abdullah on Friday lashed out at the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) for making attempts to dilute the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing a presser in Srinagar, Omar said that the special status of the state guaranteed under Article 35A of the constitution has been under threat right from the beginning but after the rightwing BJP come to power the threat of abrogation has only increased after BJP came into power.
He said that Jammu and Kashmir is not the only state in the country that enjoys a special status and identity.
“North East, Himachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar or Lakshadweep, all have special status and their own identity under the same Indian constitution. Why is it always that Jammu and Kashmir has to face the onslaught of these rightwing parties?”
He said that there was a wrong notion that special status is only for Valley Muslims.
“Article 35-A is beneficial for Kargil, Leh as well as for the people of Jammu,” Omar said.
Omar hit out at Union Finance Minister ArunJaitley for advocating repeal of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, saying any such talk will raise questions on the accession of the state to India as well.
He told reporters that the BJP and its leadership would have to tread carefully on this issue and the terms and condition cannot be renegotiated.
“If you want to debate Article 370 and Article 35A, then I am sorry, there will be questions raised on the accession as well, because accession was on these very terms,” he said.
Article 370 grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir while Article 35A empowers the state legislature to define the states “permanent residents” and their special rights and privileges.
Abdullah said Jaitley’s claim that poverty in Jammu and Kashmir is because of Article 35A is completely wrong.
“He either forgets or has not been informed well enough that before the advent of militancy (in 1989) there was no such complaint here. If Jammu and Kashmir has suffered, it is due to militancy and not Article 35A. If you look at the period before 1990, the state was counted among the fastest growing ones of the country. There was no industry which was not found in the state then,” he said.
The former chief minister said he was surprised when people talked about removing the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
“How do they want to do it? This state became part of the country on the basis of this special status… Accession was on the basis of a negotiated settlement by virtue of which the state had all the powers, except those related to currency, communications, defence and foreign affairs.
“Nowhere has it been made time-bound, like it will last for 10 or 20 years. It is a straightforward thing — as long as this state is part of India, it will be given the special status,” he added.
Abdullah said the special status and identity of Jammu and Kashmir was under severe threat. “This danger is not new but has increased over the past five years, especially since 2015 when BJP joined the state government,” he alleged.
He claimed that a blog by Jaitley over Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on Thursday was evidence that the thinking of BJP and its leaders about the state is not right.
“Whatever we say we cannot change the thought process of BJP and its leaders. However, we could have taken this debate forward, had they put forward truth and facts about the issue. Reality has been presented in a distorted way and a wrong impression was sought to be created that Jammu and Kashmir is lagging due to its special status,” he said.
The NC leader hit out at Prime Minister NarendraModi for his handling of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and held it responsible for the slow growth in the state.
“If Modisahab had dealt with the situation of the state well and kept it in the same condition as the UPA had handed it over to him in 2014… we would have developed much more.
“How do you expect an investor to set up a hotel in the state when a sitting governor talks about boycotting Kashmir. I did not hear Jaitley saying that this is wrong. No BJP leader told the governor that talking about economic boycott of a part of the country is unconstitutional and illegal. That time they stayed silent and now they talk about law,” he added.
Abdullah said Jammu and Kashmir was not the only state in the country with special status.
“There are other states as well which enjoy special status under the Constitution. But no one talks about those states, be it the northeast states, Himachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar or Lakshadweep. When an assault is launched, it is only on the special status of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
He said a wrong notion was being spread that articles 370 and 35A were benefitting only the Muslims of Kashmir.
“The fact is that special status of Jammu and Kashmir has benefits for not only the valley but it has also protected Jammu and Ladakh regions as well. The masses of Jammu and Ladakh when spoken to, devoid of politics, do not want Article 35A to be removed,” he added.
He said reports about prosecution withholding critical information about the Samjhauta Express blast case from the court was a reflection of the respect the BJP-led central government had for institutions of the country.
“The judge presiding over the special NIA court has himself said that the prosecution withheld critical information that would have allowed a guilty verdict to be passed. Clearly, this government has no respect for institutions,” Abdullah told reporters at a press conference here.
The former chief minister said the disrespect for the institutions was seen across the length and breadth of the government.
“Whether NITI Aayog chairman being hauled up by the Election Commission for giving political statements or the way they have treated Reserve Bank of India and reduced it to a subsidiary of the government, rather than an independent body.
“We are yet to see a decision from the Election commission of India where the Prime Minister uses a space-related announcement to further the BJP’s campaign. And now what we have seen with the courts and the way in which Samjhauta trial has been sabotaged by withholding the evidence,” he said.
Abdullah said even the railways was being used to campaign for the Prime Minister.
“I don’t know how effective the chowkidar slogan will be for the BJP, that only time will tell, but the fact that railways is circulating cups with chowkidar written on them and the Election Commission is powerless to do anything about it, is a reflection on independence and how the institutions have been weakened.
“I myself am a witness to boarding passes for at least two flights departing from Srinagar with photographs of PM Modi even after model code of conduct came into effect. It is no surprise that this government has very little, if any, regard for institutions,” he added.
A special court in Haryana’s Panchkula, which had acquitted Swami Aseemanand and three others in the Samjhauta Express train blast case, Thursday said the National Investigating Agency lost a valuable piece of evidence by not conducting an identification parade.
NIA court special Judge Jagdeep Singh said the agency did not bother to conduct a Test Identification Parade (TIP) of the suspects after learning that an Indore tailor may have stitched the covers of the two suitcases in which unexploded bombs were found in the train.
All the four accused — Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand, Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan and RajinderChaudhary — were acquitted by the court on March 20. (with inputs from PTI)
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