Senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader, Indresh Kumar on Tuesday justified the ongoing debate on the rationale for continuing the Nehruvian legacy of Article 370 that accords special status to the State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and in the same vein called for an honest review of the fruits of the Act that is claimed to be the umbilical cord uniting the northern State to the mainland.
Kumar, who is a member of the national executive of the RSS, was speaking at a conclave organised at Ranchi to discuss the situation in J&K. As a former sangh pracharak for J&K, the outspoken leader blamed vested interests in the Congress and the National Conference for the heavily skewed relationship that India maintains with the J&K since 1947 and suggested that the Act was a result of compromises made with the interests of the country by the then Government of India.
“It (Article-370) is the only temporary provision governing Centre-State relations in the entire world. We should find out how much we have gained because of the act. There is not a single document that highlights gain and if we try to scrutinise gains and losses we will find that we only conceded because of this article,” said Kumar.
The RSS leader made no exception in his remark to highlight the downside of the almost half-a-century old law claiming that the law impinges on the absolute sovereignty of India which needs to be stamped by J&K Assembly even in case of judicial remarks made by courts elsewhere in the country.
The RSS leader asserted that “the Act is a symbol of cruelty against humanity and human rights,” and the Bhartiya Janta Party has taken a bold step by raising the issue.
He also offered advice to the BJP’s ally in the J&K, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), to not digress from the path of development and not to mistake the mandate given by the people of J&K as a licence to adopt fundamentalist attitude. Notably, the acerbic remarks came in the backdrop of some PDP leaders pressing for mortal remains of Parliament attack convict Afzul Guru to be brought back to the State and pulled the PDP for expressing disenchantment with Kashmiri Pandits.
“We will stand for development, for security of Jammu and Kashmir but we will not support separatist activities. People will forgive BJP for not compromising with the interests of the State and making all sacrifices to stick to its stand but they will teach a lesson after five years if you (PDP) do not deliver better health services and work progress of the State,” maintained Kumar.
Earlier, Chief Minister Raghubar Das echoed the views of common people and said the nation stands resolute against all kinds of divisive forces and cross-border activities to disrupt peace in J&K and in other parts of the country. Das said any disruptive activities cannot be allowed to happen and is intolerable.
“Pakistan is continuing its proxy war against India. We cannot allow anyone to play with our unity and any act to break our unity we will not be tolerated,” added the Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister at the conclave, which brought the importance of journalism in modern day context for open discussion, expressed that journalism had a mission however it has become a profession and one must refrain from propaganda against anyone for petty gains.