SRINAGAR — Leader of Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Sunil Sharma on Monday said the resolution moved by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on the restoration of statehood was a “violation” of the Constitution and will not be allowed.
He also asserted that statehood will happen as it is the BJP’s agenda and that the National Conference (NC) wants to “sabotage” it by forcefully inserting its own agenda. Speaking to reporters before the assembly proceedings here, Sharma said the talk of bringing back Article 370 or ‘double flag’ and ‘double constitution’ is an insult to the Constitution of the country.
Referring to his meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Sharma said the two discussed “how the ruling party here is once again trying to cast Jammu and Kashmir into those old slogans regarding pre-1953 status and Article 370”.
“Do you still want to push Jammu and Kashmir 70 to 80 years backward? Back to where there was bloodshed, where so many people lost their lives — is that where the government of Jammu and Kashmir wants to take it? Whenever the local people remind Omar Abdullah of his promises, they paint over it with Article 370 and pre-1953,” he said.
The LoP said when the BJP government at the Centre rejected the autonomy resolution in 2000 and threw that into a dustbin, the NC was sitting “in the BJP’s lap”.
“Back then, you thought it was wrong. Why do you recall it today? You recall it today because people in Jammu and Kashmir are demanding water, electricity, and roads from you,” he asserted.
Sharma claimed that the Union Home Minister expressed “serious displeasure over this”, stating that discussions about Article 370 or pre-1953 “no longer have any place in Jammu and Kashmir’s politics”.
“Without doubt, statehood is genuine — it is a commitment of the government of India. We have reiterated here as well: come forward, let us debate. Statehood will happen; that is our agenda, not yours (NC’s). You want to sabotage it by forcefully inserting your own agenda. Statehood, which is currently our agenda, gets sabotaged when you bring up talks of pre-1953 or Article 370,” Sharma added.
The BJP leader said his party is ready to discuss the issue of statehood issue, but, “this is abusive at this point’. How can you talk about a dual flag here? How can you talk about a dual Constitution here? Not under any circumstances. This is derogatory — it is abusive toward the Constitution of India and contrary to its fundamental spirit”.
“Why shouldn’t the Constitution of India apply here? Because of the Muslim-majority character of the state, is that why it shouldn’t apply? The Constitution of India will apply across all other states of India, but won’t apply here just because of a Muslim majority? This ‘Two-Nation Theory’ belonged to Jinnah, which partitioned India. Abdullah’s government wants to steer things back toward that same two nation theory. This will never be accepted,” he said.
To a question about protests being organised by the Congress against Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, Sharma said the Congress has no moral authority to stage any protest against the Election Commission.
“Congress is the party that fielded an Election Commissioner of India like T N Seshan as their candidate against (LK) Advani. Congress is the party that appointed M S Gill, a former Election Commissioner of India, as a Union Minister. What moral ground do they have to speak? For four decades, they did not even establish proper institutional procedures for the Election Commission of India.
“Are they going to lecture today? What basis do they have? What ethics do they possess to make such claims?” he said.
He alleged that the Congress is “grappling with sheer frustration”.