Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 25: Claimants of the autonomy and Article 370 granting separate status to J&K, did not wait for even two hours in extending draconian emergency in the State of J&K and some signs of the black days of 1975 still persisted unlike other parts of the country.
This was stated by the former Union Minister, Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta while recalling the black nights of June, 1975, when the emergency was clamped by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi after her authority was in jeopardy in wake of her losing the Lok Sabha seat in the election petition.
In a statement issued here ,today Prof Gupta said that when Indira Gandhi became despotic, the then State Chief Minister, Sheikh Mohd Abdullah did not bother to take benefit of special status and resorted to large scale arrests of 1375, and other opposition activists who were made to face the hardships and tyranny.
He said many people were arrested without any warrants and a reign of terror and adversity were let lose.
Prof. Gupta said after the end of emergency in 1977 elections, Gandhi led Congress was defeated and the new regime led by Morarji Desai rectified the wrongs of the emergency including reverting the life of Lok Sabha and Assemblies to five from six years. But in J&K the measure taken during emergency the life of the State Assembly still continues to be six years, he added and regretted that the protagonists of autonomy and special status always used anti people measures to their ends, so much so in exploiting communal and sectarian sentiments to meet their political objectives.
Prof. Gupta said that most of the problems including radicalism in Kashmir is the result of follies and bunglings of power crazy politicians who are needed to be exposed especially their double talk and changing colour.