Congress hits back, says NDA-BJP govts responsible for mess in JK
New Delhi: The Congress has hit back at Home Minister Amit Shah for blaming former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the political problems in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the NDA-BJP government was responsible for the state of affairs there.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said delving into history and selective blaming, finger pointing is not going to take the government anywhere in terms of how to tackle and resolve the problem in Jammu and Kashmir.
Earlier, Shah said in the Lok Sabha that Nehru was responsible for the political problems and terrorism in the state.
Hitting back, Tewari said, “The Home minister failed to take responsibility which lies squarely at his door or the door of the NDA-BJP government. If the situation has come to such a pass in Jammu and Kashmir, it was the policies of the central government and their (BJP) alliance with the PDP which was responsible.”
Shah chose not to answer in the Lok Sabha if things were normal in the state as the government claims.
Tiwari asked if the Election Commission could hold elections to Parliament in the state just a month back why has the government sought extension of President’s rule. He also sought to know what was the hesitation and intent behind not holding immediate elections to the state assembly.
“If you look at the history of counter-insurgencies all over the world, hard power works to a point and then soft power has to take over and that is why many complex issues in various parts of the country, including the northeast were resolved by a combination of hard power and soft power, which successive governments used,” he said.
“There was no indication in Shah’s speech whether that equilibrium, which is essential to maintain fragile or a sensitive situation was anywhere within the contemplation of the NDA-BJP government. Of course, what did the Home minister do, he took refuge in history,” he said.
Tewari said the BJP has a certain narrative about Jammu and Kashmir, but what is extremely unfortunate “is this continuous embellishment and the selective use of untruths in order to try and built a new history of what happened in the past 70 years in the state”.
In his blistering attack on Nehru and the Congress, Shah alleged that the policies of previous Congress governments widened the wedge between the people of the state and the country.
“Today one-third of Kashmir is not with us. Who announced ceasefire when Pakistan encroached in Kashmir after independence and occupied one-third of its territory?
“Jawaharlal Nehru announced ceasefire and Pakistan took away that part of Kashmir,” he said.
The Congress leader accused the ruling party of adopting diversionary tactics to escape responsibility for the present state in Jammu and Kashmir.
Tewari said it is unfortunate that rather than coming up with answers for pertinent questions raised by the Opposition, the government tried to “deflate, obfuscate and escape” from answers for the present situation in Jammu and Kashmir. (PTI)
Press Trust of India
