NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR, June 28:
BJP veteran L K Advani and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah were today engaged in a war of words over Article 370, that gives a special status to the State, with the BJP leader advising him not to use words like “cheating and deceiving” and Omar asking Advani to explain his “silence” on the issue when NDA was in power.
Against the backdrop of Omar criticising him for demanding abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, Advani, in his latest blog posting, said even Congress–other than Jawaharlal Nehru and a few other leaders- were strongly opposed to giving a special status to J&K.
Advani quotes from a biography of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to argue that even he was against Article 370 but kept his views in the background out of his regard for Nehru.
“Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of J&K State, has every right to disagree with the BJP on matters relating to J&K.
“But I would advise him never to use offensive language and words like ‘cheating’ and ‘deceiving’ in that context,” Advani said on his blog.
Advani had recently said Article 370 should be revoked and Omar responded to this without naming Advani and slamming him for raising the “bogey of revocation” of the constitutional provision.
Holding that it is “highly improper” for anyone to use offensive words like “cheating” in the context of BJP’s stand on J-K, Advani said his party has “not only been unequivocal, forthright and consistent from the time Jana Sangh (BJP’s predecessor) was born in 1951 till today, but it is an issue for which the party’s founder-President laid down his own life”.
Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, who founded Jana Sangh, was arrested in J&K in 1952 when he tried to enter the State without a permit which was required then to go to there.
He died, allegedly under mysterious circumstances, during his incarceration in that State.
“Since our very first all India session at Kanpur, we have been championing complete integration of J&K State with India”, Advani said.
Omar today hit back at Advani writing on microblogging site Twitter that the BJP veteran should explain his “silence” on abrogation of Article 370 between 1998 and 2004 when NDA was ruling at the Centre.
“Instead of advising me to show restraint, Advani Ji should devote some blog space to explain his silence over Article 370 between 1998-2004,” Omar said.
“Perhaps he can also blog about what constitutional mechanism he plans to follow to repeal Article 370. I might learn something from his wisdom,” Omar added.
Advani said Abdulalh should be aware that the Jana Sangh was not even formed when the special status was given to J&K.
“However, if there was any provision in the Draft Constitution which had almost the entire Congress Party up in arms against it, it was this provision.
“This issue was considered by the Constituent Assembly in November, 1949 just two months before the Constitution was formally adopted,” he said.
Congress and Abdullah’s National Conference are allies in the State and at the Centre.
Quoting extensively from a book ‘My Reminiscences of Sardar Patel”, written by V.Shankar, private secretary of Sardar Patel, Advani said Nehru had finalised the draft of the provision in consultation with Sheikh Abdullah, Omar’s grandfather, before going on a foreign visit.
He left it to fellow Congress leader Gopalaswamy Ayyangar to defend it before the Congress Parliamentary Party.
Though Sardar Patel was against this idea, he went ahead.
However, due to stiff opposition from Congress members- who shouted down even Maulana Azad on the issue- Patel said due to “international complications” only a provisional approach could be made. (PTI)
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