Congress on Saturday mocked Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah after he blamed first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the problems in Jammu and Kashmir, saying he draws his knowledge of history from WhatsApp and that the Opposition party can send him history books.
National Conference and CPI(M) too while demanding an early Assembly election in Jammu & Kashmir alleged that the Union Home Minister comments in the Lok Sabha a day ago regarding the State were “provocative” and would alienate the people further.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said while Shah keeps on his attack on Nehru and blaming the Congress for troubles in Jammu & Kashmir, the Congress wants to focus on issues like unemployment facing the masses today.
He then took the Whatsapp dig at Shah.
He said before Muslim League, it was Veer Sawarkar, a reverential figure in the BJP, and Hindu Mahasabha which had propogated two-nation theory. Shah had blamed the Congress for partition.
The Left party said if the conditions were conducive for holding the Lok Sabha election in the state, there was no reason to believe that the same situation prohibits the holding of assembly election.
“The Union Home Minister’s intervention in Parliament while moving the (resolution for) extension of President’s Rule for another six months in Jammu & Kashmir was provocative leading to further alienation of the people of the state,” the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said in a statement.
“This is not healthy for India’s unity and integrity. Alienation only feeds growth of terrorism, which the country is unitedly determined to defeat,” it added.
Shah had said on Friday that Article 370 of the Constitution, which provides for special status to the state, was “temporary in nature” and “not permanent”.
The National Conference expressed dismay over the statement of Amit Shah on the question of conducting assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the “inordinate delay” in holding the polls in the state is synonymous with “scuttling” federalism in the country.
It said the people are yearning for a stable Government which could protect the identity and territorial integrity of the state.
NC general secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar said on one hand, the Home minister minced no words to accentuate the peaceful conduct of urban local bodies and panchayat polls and Parliament elections in the state, but on the other hand, he is “denying” a representative government to the state.
The NC general secretary said any further delay in having an elected representative government in the state would “further increase the gap between the Government and the people”.
