Adil Lateef
Srinagar, July 7: Showering praises on Union Government, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today termed the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in State a historic move and hailed her alliance partner Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) for “keeping its promise of safeguarding Jammu and Kashmir’s special position by maintaining status quo on Article 370”.
“Today, I believe, this day would be scripted with golden letters not for only our Assembly but for whole country’s democracy and Parliament because I believe there couldn’t have been any big success for our nation’s democracy than what we saw (debate and adoption of GST resolution) from past days in our Jammu and Kashmir’s Assembly,” Mehbooba said in her address on the last day of Legislative Council’s special session called for GST early this week.
The Chief Minister said her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s view that Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is “most empowered” in country has been vindicated today. “I remember our patron and leader, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed used to repeatedly say that Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is most empowered House in whole country and when we used to hear this we used ask what is he saying?
“But today we are seeing that whole country was waiting when Jammu and Kashmir’s Assembly will pass a law and pass a resolution so that the GST which has been passed in whole of the country would be implemented here.. And, this has happened for the first time,” she said.
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Mehbooba, who didn’t speak in the Lower House on GST during the special session, said all the Central laws since 1951 were passed secretly in the State and no debate unlike the one that was held on GST was held which created suspicion in the minds of people. “Many amendments have come here. The laws that are prepared in whole country are being drafted by very wise and brilliant persons.
“Those things which are good for country cannot be bad for us. Unfortunately from past 70 years, from 1951 to this date, whenever Central law was passed, was done secretly. As our Congress colleagues were saying that they (amendments) were passed through backdoor entry which created suspicion in peoples’ minds. And, if you implemented good law that too was viewed with suspicion among people,” she said.
She expressed joy over the holding of special session on GST and subsequent adopting of the resolution and hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Government at Centre. “But today for the first time it has happened that (in) Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, we passed a resolution and I am happy and thankful to our country’s President and Prime Minister – about whom I repeatedly say that if Jammu and Kashmir has to take out of this morass and if anyone is holding power and courage then it is Narendra Modi. It needs a big heart,” Mehbooba said.
She admitted that people had apprehensions about the GST resolution and cited the example of Autonomy resolution passed during National Conference regime which was then trashed by Centre. “Today when we passed a resolution here, there were apprehensions among people with regard to special status of Jammu and Kashmir if we pass this (GST) law here. But I am happy that the words which we scripted in our resolution.
“This Assembly had also passed a resolution (of Autonomy) with 2/3rd majority and what happened to that I need to say because everyone knows,” she said, adding: “but today when all of us took the decision (on GST) – I want to thank my alliance partners for completely supporting Agenda of Alliance (AoA).”
Mehbooba said that “there was our commitment (in AoA) that status quo would be maintained in the existing position of our Jammu and Kashmir, the existent Constitutional position”. “And today when the time of test came, they showed that ‘we stand on our word and promise’. This has sent a message in whole State that the promise made to us by PDP-BJP alliance (would be kept). There were apprehensions among people that BJP has arrived and PDP shook hands with it and ‘something will happen now’,” she said.
The Chief Minister said that she believed that “when testing time came today we all have came out victorious”. “And our coming generation (would remember this session and) as someone earlier said that so far whatever has been done secretly would not be done again in future. You always have to come in Assembly and in Council,” she said.
Mehbooba congratulated and thanked her Ministers and her party colleague Muzzafar Beigh and credited him for developing consensus outside the Assembly. “I, this time, when I am very thankful to my Finance Minister, deputy Chief Minister but until and unless I name Muzzafar Hussain Beigh my address would remain incomplete who outside the Assembly with traders and called all-party meeting made all of them understand and tried to make them understand.
“He (Beigh) had also given many suggestions on how to safeguard our 370 position at the time of implementing GST and then there were his suggestions into it. I am thankful to him,” she said.
The Chief Minister also thanked Prime Minister and Union Cabinet Ministers “for the note which we prepared in Cabinet and sent to them on how we protect our special status while implementing GST, I am happy that they without changing any word or character sent back to us in Presidential order”. She added: “You see in 1951 when late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah introduced land lease law here and since then whether it be Bakshi, Sadiq, Mir Qasim or Farooq Abdullah, whenever any law from Centre has been brought, none of the times this language has been used in presidential order.”
Mehbooba said she is happy “that our President and Prime Minister have safeguarded the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir and cared for their sensitivities and sent back to us such a law and document which has raised head of our Assembly high”. She again mentioned her father and said “he used to repeatedly say those things which we have been given to us by our country, by our Parliament and if we manage to protect them then there is no big ‘Azadi’ than this”.
Mehbooba said: “There is no big ‘Azadi’ then this in our country and as I said our residuary powers…whole country was waiting for us with patience to see what decision J&K Assembly will take.” She said that they didn’t disappoint country and “our country, our Central Government, our Prime Minister also didn’t disappoint us. We kept their dignity and they kept ours”.
Mehbooba said that her party and her alliance partner BJP have come out “victorious” and thanked them for their support. “I thank all of you, our colleagues and our alliance partners. We fought a war together and came out victorious together. We have kept crown on this Assembly and Council today which was being said that has lost somewhere.
“It was being repeatedly said that they (Centre) have took something. By respecting this resolution, I think the Central Government has somewhere, although in less quantity, returned the lost dignity. I am again congratulating FM and their team. They worked together. Today’s day would be scripted in golden letters in our history and we have got back something which had been lost,” she concluded.
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