NEW DELHI, Dec 3:
The row over Narendra Modi’s call for a debate on Article 370 of the Constitution escalated today with BJP being accused of stoking “communal tension” for political gains and the saffron party saying it is not a “holy book” over which there cannot be any review.
As non-BJP parties try to corner Modi for his call on the constitutional provision that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah raised the pitch with a remark that if the BJP leader becomes Prime Minister even for “ten terms”, he will not be able to repeal the measure.
“Even if Modi becomes PM 10 times, he will not be able to do away with Article 370. You talk of debate, BJP does not indulge in any debate,” Farooq told reporters here.
BJP hit out at those targeting its Prime Ministerial candidate and emphasised that no special Constitutional provisions are needed for J&K.
“This debate on Article 370 subsequent to Modi raising it in the Jammu rally revealed what people of J&K are missing out on. This Article has been used as a shield to stop many of those great legislations which have been passed in the country from reaching J&K,” BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.
But CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said J&K’s special status as provided by Article 370 is not a debatable issue but settled for all times to come.
“If there is a debate over it, it is being done to cause communal tension,” the veteran communist leader said.
Congress leader and Union Minister Rajiv Shukla said BJP is creating an unwarranted row over an issue which has been there since 1947. “It’s totally unnecessary,” he said.
Another BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Article 370 must be debated as people in J&K have “suffered” due to it.
“Has it become a holy book over which there cannot be a debate? These champions of secularism do not know the pain this Article has caused to people in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Article 370 has become a political crutch for them,” he said.
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy took exception to Farooq’s comments.
“I do not know which Constitution Farooq Abdullah is reading. In fact, the Constitution ensures that for repealing Article 370, you do not even need a Parliamentary vote… It requires the President to issue a notification, cancelling or quashing the article,” he said.
Keeping the unity and integrity of the country and its national interest in view, senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu today vouched for ‘revisiting’ the continuance of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing a press conference at Hyderabad, Mr Naidu said, “There is every need to revisit the Article through an enlightened debate whether it is helpful for the people of Jammu and Kashmir or outside.’
“Though the J&K is wholly dependent on the Union Government fund not only to meet plan expenditure but also non-plan expenditure, different Constitution and rules prevail in the State,” he pointed out.
‘The President cannot declare a State of emergency in J&K without the permission or request of the State Government. Since 1953, the Centre’s power has been extended to J&K on many aspects, but continuance of Article 370, adopted during the time of our first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, has created a plethora of problems, ‘he opined adding, ‘ The Article is the root cause of all the problems in Jammu and Kashmir.’
‘Article 370 is included in the Part XXI of the Constitution (Temporary, Transitional and Special provisions) and starts with a heading – ‘Temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir’, he stated.
Mr Naidu said, ‘Neither is there any dilution nor deviation of the BJP’s stand on Article 370. We are firmly committed to abrogation of the said Article.’
‘If one goes through the constituent Assembly debates, it is clear that our first Prime Minister firmly said his special provision was intended as temporary measure in the Constitution and assured that the Article will erode over time and J&K will indeed be integrated wholly with the Indian Republic in the same way as all the other princely states,’ he commented.
The separate statute didn’t bring the needed integration and on the other hand, it had created a feeling of separation, Mr Naidu alleged and said it had affected fundamental rights of the people with regard to right to hold property, right to citizenship and right to settlement.
‘The Indian citizen doesn’t automatically become a citizen of J&K as the laws made by Indian Parliament doesn’t extend automatically to J&K, he said.
‘As per the Article, migrated West Pakistan people after partition, who took refuge in J&K, are entitled to vote for Lok Sabha election but are not entitled to vote for Assembly elections in J&K,’ he pointed out.
Mr Naidu said, ‘We are not surprised over the panic reaction of our political opponents on the suggestion made by BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi seeking wider debate on the Article 370, because they are sure they will be exposed of their past sins.’
‘Discussing the Article 370 would also have compelled our politicians and and intellecuals to discuss about the need for J&K to have its own Constitution. So far, the country’s political and educated class have also shied away from discussing it for fear of being labelled anti-Muslim and communal,’ he averred.
‘Nehru had messed up Kashmir and Sardar Patel did a great job by liberating Hyderabad from tyranny of Nizam, ‘he said adding, ‘ Rank communalist and pseudo-secularists could only call Sardar as communalist. Sardar has done a great job in the unification of India.’
‘Keeping the unity and integrity of the country, there is every need to revisit Article 370 through a wider debate across the country,’ he demanded.
Elaborating on the issue, Nirmala Sitharaman said no elections to local bodies have been held in the State in four years, and sought to know why the 73rd and 74th Amendments (for urban and rural local bodies) have not been implemented in J&K.
“For all this, can the Congress tell us, the amendment which Indira Gandhi brought to the Preamble of the Constitution- Secular, Socialist, Republic- that is what is not implemented in J&K. Why should J&K be excluded? Even the unanimous resolution passed in 1994 reiterated J&K as an integral part of India,” Sitharaman said.
BJP claimed that any law passed by Parliament which benefits the rest of the country should benefit J&K too.
“So using this Article, if there is a filtering out- Delimitation Act is not implemented there… Is it fair? Sitharaman asked.
She said Modi’s intention of saying that was to highlight that the article has been used by a small, privileged and influential section of J&K, to filter out several progressive legislations intended to empower citizens.
“It may be time now for Congress Party, National Conference and Omar Abdullah to explain and answer questions of how they have denied the people of J&K – women, SC, ST and OBC in particular, their due rights.”
She maintained that the much-touted Right to Information Act has been modified and diluted under the last three Chief Ministers of J&K.
“Children of women married to non-residents are denied rights to education, property, jobs and even vote in the local bodies and in the Assembly,” Sitharaman claimed.
She said that because the Representation of People Act 1951 and the Delimitation Act of 2002 and the various amendments therein are not applicable to J&K, many distant, backward and remote areas such as Kathua, Udhampur, Rajouri, Poonch, Kupwara and Ladakh are underrepresented.
Asked about the timing of her party in taking up this issue, she asked which time was correct to talk about it.
“Last 50 years nobody talked about it. There is no question of a time being suitable or not where denial of rights is concerned. It has rattled some vested interest sitting in J&K and they have to do a lot of explaining to their people rather than saying Narendra Modi is misleading the public,” she added.
NC and PDP have both supported a completely regressive, anti-women Bill – The Jammu and Kashmir Permanent Resident (Disqualification) Bill 2004 in the J&K Assembly.
“It is shocking that this happened after 7th October 2002, when the J&K High Court ruled in favour of the daughters of J&K,” Sitharaman added. (PTI)
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