KL Report
October 11, 2012
Taking strong exception to the remark by J&K’s Law Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar about elections and the Kashmir issue, BJP State chief spokesperson Dr Jitendra Singh has described it as a blatant violation of the oath of office and constitution under which a minister in the government is sworn in and is supposed to function.
“If any minister in the government genuinely holds a view contrary to the constitution of the sate and the country, then the propriety demands that the minister must first resign before airing such views,” said Dr Jitendra Singh. “During the last few years it has been witnessed that from time to time, in a bid to appease the separatist sentiment, state coalition ministers feel no hesitation in issuing irresponsible statements against the sovereignty of the state while simultaneously continuing to enjoy the fishes of office”.
To reiterate the point, he also referred to the chief minister’s “accession not merger” statement last year. Jitendra reminded, “None other than the National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah had himself accepted the finality of J&K accession to India on more than one occasion”.
“In 1951, Sheikh Abdullah as Prime Minister of J&K, proposed the convening of J&K Constituent Assembly and the J&K Constitution which came into force on 26 January, 1957, clearly states in Part II section (3) that ‘the state of J&K is and shall be an integral part of the Union of India,” Jitandra said. He pointed out that in 1954, J&K Assembly had with its 75 members of NC ratified the accession of J&K to India and in 1975 when Indira Gandhi re-installed Sheikh Abdullah as Chief Minister of the state, the latter meekly accepted the sovereignty of Indian Republic without uttering a word about autonomy etc. and through D.D Thakur committee endorsed all the provisions of Indian Constitution extended to J&K”.
BJP was responding to Sagar’s Tuesday statement in the state legislature in which he termed Kashmir a disputed territory. Sagar was responding to a fierce debate over Panchayat polls.”Kashmir issue and Panchayat elections are two different things and elections are purely related to administrative affairs,” Sagar said. “Nobody should try to take political benefit on the issue as it will only vitiate the atmosphere. Kashmir problem is an admitted fact which needs political solution and Panchayats has nothing to do with it. Our government has number of times made it clear in and outside the assembly that elections are purely related to administrative issue and Kashmir issue would get resolved through political initiatives”.
