Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 28: National Conference (NC) additional general secretary and former minister, Ajay Kumar Sadhotra today launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of systematically trampling the legacy of Maharaja Hari Singh by bifurcating and downgrading Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking at functions held at Dargali and Barbalwan in Panchayat Kangar of Jammu North Assembly Constituency to distribute relief material among rain and flood-hit families, organized by Subash Bhagat (block president), Sadhotra said the only service BJP has done to the Maharaja was the unfortunate bifurcation of his vast and historic state into two union territories, thereby degrading it to the lowest possible political status.
Sadhotra strongly criticized the BJP for scrapping constitutional safeguards under Article 35A, which, he said, guaranteed land and job rights to the permanent residents of J&K. He added that the provision was not just a legal clause but a solemn assurance rooted in Maharaja Hari Singh’s laws to protect the interests of state subjects. “The BJP’s erasure of Article 35A is nothing short of a betrayal of the Maharaja’s vision and the aspirations of the people,” he remarked.
He lamented that by abrogating Article 370 and scrapping Article 35A, the BJP Government inflicted wounds that strike at the very soul of J&K’s identity. He accused the party of dismembering the state, taking away rights of people, and leaving it at the mercy of bureaucratic control from Delhi.
Sadhotra further alleged that while BJP leaders make loud claims of reverence for Maharaja Hari Singh, they have simultaneously undermined everything he stood for. Calling upon the people, especially the youth, to see through BJP’s double standards, he urged them to join hands in restoring the dignity and rights safeguarded by the framers of the Constitution.
Prominent among those present were Raghbir Singh district president, Tilak Raj Bhagat district secretary, Rakesh Pahalwan YNC district president, Ved Parkash Bhardwaj, Subash Chander, Hameed, Ganga Ram Bhagat, Ashu Sharma, Ashok Kumar and Balram Singh.
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