Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) chief minister Omar Abdullah believes that a Narendra Modi-led government could “end up severing J&K from the rest of the country”. Coming from the chief minister of the only Muslim majority state, this needs to be taken very seriously.
Abdullah’s warning comes in response to Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) poll promise to revoke Article 370 of the Constitution which grants special status to J&K.
The BJP’s election manifesto of 2014 “reiterates its stand on Article 370”, and promises to “discuss this with all stakeholders and remains committed to the abrogation of Article 370”
Never mind the fact that it was Abdullah who joined the BJP-led government which in its 1998 election manifesto was much more strident on this issue. “The BJP will abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution”, was the short and terse poll promise. (BJP Manifesto, Chapter 3, Agenda for Institutional Rejuvenation)
.Abdullah also sees the BJP’s promise to grant Union Territory (UT) status to the Buddhist-majority Ladakh as dismembering Jammu and Kashmir (which) will have awful consequences, both for communal peace in the state and for its wider relationship with India.
Again, he says this even as his existing coalition partner in the state has also promised UT status to Ladakh. It is one of the 29 items in the Congress Party’s manifesto for the overall development of the desert region. As such, Abdullah’s statements not only lack political credibility but also ideological conviction.
More importantly, these statements display a lack of political maturity. It is well accepted that Article 370 cannot be revoked. Prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had sought opinion from almost every single Constitutional expert and legal luminary about the possibility and implication of abolishing Article 370. There was a complete consensus among all the experts that it can’t be done. The current governor of the state could enlighten the chief minister as well as the prime ministerial aspirant about this. For it was he who had put together various views for Vajpayee.
AKANKSHA SHANU
PGDM 1ST YEAR
2013-15
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