NEW DELHI, June 23:
Senior BJP leader L K Advani today pushed for repealing Article 370 of the Constitution, saying it would help Jammu and Kashmir’s full integration with India.
“The country eagerly awaits the day when Article 370 would be repealed and the two vidhans (Constitution) also would become one,” Advani wrote in his blog to commemorate the 60th death anniversary of party’s founder Shyama Prasad Mookerjee.
Article 370 accords special Constitutional status on J&K and its abolition has been one of BJP’s core demands. The party had put the issue on back burner in its attempt to woo more allies, most of whom are wary of its Hindutva agenda.
In his blog titled ‘Independent India’s First Martyr for National Integration’, the veteran leader said Mookerjee’s death in controversial circumstances triggered a series of developments which significantly promoted the process of national integration.
The permit system, which the then J&K Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah had introduced for non-state residents wishing to enter the State, was scrapped and state’s PM became a Chief Minister like the head of any other state.
Two pradhans (heads) became one, and though two nishans (symbols) continue still, the National Tricolour started flying in the State in a superior position, Advani wrote in the blog, giving credit to Mookerjee for extending the reach of the Supreme Court to the State.
Mookerjee had given the slogan “ek desh mein do pradhan, do nishan, do vidhan, nahin challenge nahi challenge” during the first national meet of his party Bhartiya Jansangh, the erstwhile avatar of BJP, in 1953.
He was arrested by J&K police for entering the State without a permit and later died in detention in Srinagar due to “ill health”, a claim rejected by his supporters who termed it a conspiracy.
Until Mookerjee’s demise neither the Supreme Court, Election Commission nor Comptroller and Auditor General had jurisdiction over Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
“Dr Mookerjee’s martyrdom brought about a change in this situation. Sheikh Abdullah became Chief Minister, Sadar-e-Riyasat became Governor, and the President and PM’s formal authority got extended to J&K,” he said.
Wondering why no formal inquiry was instituted into Mookerjee’s death, Advani blogged, “The death of this titan remains a mystery till today.
“In other similar situations, a formal inquiry has almost invariably been instituted but not in this case. One cannot say whether it was just criminal insensitivity, or actually a feeling of guilt!,” he said. (PTI)
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