PAGD a group of daydreamers: Chug

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chug, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh and party J&K president Ravinder Raina during a press conference at Jammu on Saturday. —Excelsior/Rakesh
BJP national general secretary Tarun Chug, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh and party J&K president Ravinder Raina during a press conference at Jammu on Saturday. —Excelsior/Rakesh

Will NC, PDP MPs resign, asks Dr Jitendra

Avtar Bhat

JAMMU, Nov 7: Lashing out at the leaders of People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), BJP national general secretary, Tarun Chug today termed them a group of “daydreamers” while making it clear that under no circumstances the controversial Articles 370 and 35-A will be restored in Jammu and Kashmir.
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Chug who was talking to reporters here today along with Union Minister in PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh and BJP J&K UT president, Ravinder Raina after winding his two days tour of Jammu said, Gupkar Gang will not succeed in its designs. “They looted J&K and were now again misleading the people of the UT for their vested interests but they will never succeed in that,” he added.
Chug said the 70-year-old mess created by them in erstwhile State of J&K is being now cleared by Narendra Modi led Government and it will take some time in cleansing every thing.
Making a scathing attack on these leaders, he said they misled people over the years with the result the youth in Kashmir took to arms. “They instead of solving the people’s problems and taking interest in the development of the erstwhile State indulged in promoting the dynastic rule in J&K and looted the State exchequer. Both Abdullah and Mufti dynasties are involved in this game,” he added.
The BJP national general secretary said that the time has completely changed and these families can’t sell the jobs any more. “Now the common man of J&K will reap the fruits of development and youth of the UT will march towards prosperity and better future”, he added.
He said BJP was ready to hold debate with National Conference (NC) president, Dr Farooq Abdullah on J&K issue. The BJP national general secretary said “We will talk on two issues only and that include wrong doings by Abdullah’s in Kashmir and efforts made by BJP for development of J&K”.
He said his party is going to contest District Development Council (DDC) elections in all the constituencies on its own party symbol.
In response to a question regarding rehabilitation policy for militants, Chug said “We would not talk to any one holding gun and those holding guns have their place only in grave”.
In response to another question regarding the statement of BJP national president, J P Nadda that Pakistan is exporting terror in J&K, he said world knows that Pakistan is a factory of terrorism and they are sending terrorists to Kashmir but Indian forces will not spare them. “We have a clear cut policy that there will be zero tolerance against terror and we stick to it”, he added.
He further said that long plan for development in J&K is in offing and Government is working on it.
Dr Jitendra Singh while taking a dig at the PAGD leadership opposing the abrogation of 370 and 35-A, said that representatives of NC and PDP were present in the Lok Sabha while the decision of the annulling the special status to J&K was taken but they did not resign from their seats at that time. “Their MPs should resign publicly for decision of GoI taken on August 5 last year”. He further asked will these MPs resign in protest against the decision of annulling of controversial articles while asserting that no power on earth can restore them.
Regarding restoration of Statehood to J&K, Dr Jitendra Singh said that Union Home Minister, Amit Shah has issued multiple statements regarding the restoration of Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. “I just want to add that Statehood to J&K will be restored at appropriate time and it will take less than 70 years as was taken to abrogate 370”, he added.
Maintaining that BJP is redeeming for the sins of previous rulers in J&K, Dr Jitendra Singh held the successive State Governments responsible for the plight of daily wagers. “It is the problem created before 2014 and whose Government was at Delhi and in J&K before that”? They sold the youth of the erstwhile State and cheated them by appointing some of them as daily wagers and others as casual laborers. However, possible options are being discussed how to settle their issue, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that a wrong precedence was adopted even in J&K that people getting 95 percent marks in written tests were dropped in interviews. There was such a nexus that even it took three years to implement Government decision regarding abolition of interviews in J&K, he added.
Taking a dig at those who are raising the bogey that J&K has been put on sale, Dr Jitendra Singh said when J&K will be put on sale then first the bungalows situated on Gupkar will be sold because they are near the world famous Dal lake. He said these leaders are trying to bluff the people by such irresponsible statements. Though the right has been given to outsiders to purchase the land in J&K but the people of UT are within their right not to sell their land and no one can compel them for that.
BJP general secretary, Dr D K Manyal was also present in the press conference.
Earlier addressing the BJP office bearers and Party workers at Mookerjee Bhawan, Dr Jitendra Singh accused the NC of misusing Maharaja Hari Singh’s name for its survival in Jammu and said wrong facts are being attributed to the Late Maharaja which amounts to showing utter disrespect and disregard to the rich heritage and legacy of the last Dogra ruler of Jammu & Kashmir.
He said, the leadership of NC has been trying this trick with the people of Jammu ever since it was ousted from power but now this misguided craft is meeting its natural fate of diminishing returns. One of the biggest blasphemies committed by this party is to drag the name of Maharaja Hari Singh whenever they wish to defend the State Subject Law of the erstwhile State which was masterminded by Sheikh Abdullah.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, there is no comparison between the State Subject Law that existed before 5th August, 2019 and the one which was introduced by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1927. Elaborating further, he said, Maharaja’s State Subject Law was quite porous and left enough room for giving citizenship to settlers from outside who could benefit Jammu & Kashmir in terms of entrepreneurship, science promotion, education, arts etc. It was under this Clause, he recalled, that Sir Ram Nath Chopra was invited to settle in Jammu and established the first ever Drug Research Laboratory while the entire Chopra family of Bollywood fame including Ramanand Sagar and Vidhu Vinod Chora got settled here.
Dr Jitendra Singh also contradicted the rhetoric raised by National Conference and PDP that the provisions of Article 370 were envisaged by Maharaja Hari Singh. Citing facts and figures, he said, history bears out that Hari Singh signed the same Draft of Instrument of Accession which was signed by the other heads of erstwhile Princely States.
He reiterated the demand that if the National Conference and Congress do not approve of the Indian Parliament having passed the Bill to abrogate Article 370 then in the interest of Parliamentary propriety, they should resign from their membership of the Parliament.
Mocking the pitch raised by the leaders of these two parties during their two-day sojourn in Jammu, Dr Jitendra Singh said, they had tried the same strategy earlier with full confidence in the Parliament election of 2014 but failed miserably. He recalled that they repeated the same strategy in the 2019 Parliamentary elections and went to the extent of declaring that BJP will lose the Udhampur-Kathua Lok Sabha seat but to the contrary, the same seat was won with the highest ever record margin which even exceeded the margin of victory in the Jammu Lok Sabha seat.
Dr Jitendra Singh called upon the party workers to set their own narrative and not become defensive before the opposition parties. He said, “We have the facts, figures and confidence to defend the newly enacted Land Laws as well as the other Laws enacted in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir after August 5, 2019”.