Ending the party'suncertainty over the much-cherished demand for separate statehood to Jammu and Union Territory status to Laddakh region, Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party has come openly in support of re-organisation of Jammu and Kashmir.
Resolution to this affect was unanimously adopted by State BJP working Committee which met in Jammu on January 6-7. This is for the first time that state unit of the BJP has openly demanded re-organisation of Jammu and Kashmir, though some of its leaders had been raising the demand through other forums.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was the first to raise demand for re-organisation of the State during BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre. The demand was, however, turned down by senior BJP leader and the then Deputy Prime Minister, Incharge Home, Lal Krishan Advani. Later, Jammu State Morcha, which mostly comprised of the leaders from Sangh Parivar, had raised demand for statehood to Jammu.
Even as the State BJP leadership had been underneath supporting the demand for re-organisation of the J&K, which means trifurcation of the State with separate Statehood to Jammu and Union Territory status to Laddakh, the party was not coming forward openly on the issue owing its compulsion being a national party.
And because of its dilemma over the issue, the State BJP had to face humiliating defeat in the last Assembly elections in which the party'sstrength reduced from eight to one only.
Sources said that the new State BJP president Ashok Khajuria, who is known as the man of masses, forcefully took up the matter with party high-command after his taking over command and succeeded to apprise the latter about genuineness of the demand.
As the demand for re-organisation has come at the time when about one and a half year are left for the next Assembly elections, sources said that the State BJP is all set to take up the demand aggressively to revive itself in Jammu region.
The BJP resolution also took serious exception to National Conference, People'sDemocratic Party and Congress? demand for autonomy, self-rule, demilitarisation and joint management of Kashmir. It also reiterated its demand for abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, granting special status to the State.
Resolving to fight for re-organisation, the BJP made it clear that it was constrained to say that the people of the Jammu and Laddakh regions are forced to demand trifurcation of the State in such a way that the pernicious and divisive formulations being parroted by Congress, PDP, NC and Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf combine don'tapply to these regions.
The resolution alleged that the existing political and constitutional set up in the State has failed to deliver justice to Jammu and Laddakh. It said the minority Hindus of Kashmir have also suffered due to policies of the Government which are centric to a particular community of the Valley.
It said the BJP has come to the conclusion that under this unitary constitutional arrangement, there is no hope for the people of Jammu, Laddakh and and internally displaced Kashmiri Pandits.
The resolution also made a strong dig at Congress led UPA Government and accused it of minority appeasement for its vote bank politics. Blaming the Congress led coalition Government in the State and the Centre for pushing the J&K towards Pakistan step by step, it said the UPA has equated India?a victim of terrorism with Pakistan, the mother of terrorism. The resolution also blamed Congress for making a dreaded terrorist like Afzal Guru a hero who was involved in the attack on Parliament in December 2001.
It said though the situation is alarming in the State even the persons like Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad and his colleagues in the PDP are openly indulging in seditious activities and suggesting that India and Pakistan should jointly manage water, power projects, agriculture, tourism, environment and forestry. Even they have gone to the extent of suggesting outrageous concept of shared sovereignty, economic independence of the State, self-rule and demilitarisation etc, added the resolution.
It further demanded that the benefit of Roshni scheme should not be denied to refugees of West Pakistan and PoK and they should be given rights over the land possessed by them.
The party strongly advocated for conferring proprietary rights to those who were allotted evacuees property and the State land on economic grounds. Further it demanded that SCs who have been allotted land by late Maharaja Hari Singh should not be harrassed under the Roshni Act.
