SRINAGAR: Two days ahead of the all-party meeting of Kashmir parties in Delhi, Congress’s hawkish home minister P Chidambaram has reiterated his party’s statehood demand for Jammu and Kashmir.
Chidambaram had a series of tweets.
J&K was a ‘state’ that signed an Instrument of Accession and acceded to India. It must enjoy that status forever. J&K is not a piece of ‘real estate’.
J&K is ‘people’. Their rights and wishes must be respected.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) June 21, 2021
“Congress Party’s position, reiterated yesterday, that full Statehood must be restored to J&K should clear any doubt or ambiguity. What was made under the Constitution cannot be unmade by an Act of Parliament misinterpreting and misusing the provisions of the Constitution,” one of his tweets said.
The former home minister said that it needs to be remembered that the dismembering of Jammu and Kashmir has been challenged in the Supreme Court and the cases are pending for nearly 2 years
“In the monsoon session, Parliament should repeal the offending laws and restore the status quo ante in J&K,” he said. “That is the only way to draw the starting line for a political resolution of the Kashmir issue.”
P Chidambaram who has handled Kashmir as home and finance minister said that Jammu and Kashmir “was a ‘state’ that signed an Instrument of Accession and acceded to India. It must enjoy that status forever. J&K is not a piece of ‘real estate’”. He asserted: “J&K is ‘people’. Their rights and wishes must be respected.”
After the Congress party met on the issue on Sunday, party spokesman Randeep Surjewala said that the Centre’s move to scrap Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was a “direct attack on democracy and the constitutional principles”. He said that the Congress party had issued a resolution on the very next day of the Centre’s decision demanding the restoration of full statehood for Jammu and Kashmir.
Prime Minister Modi has invited 14 politicians from Jammu and Kashmir for a meeting at his residence on June 24. The meeting is expected to set the roadmap for holding assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
