NEW DELHI: BJP today hit out at those targeting its prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on his remarks on Article 370 and emphasised that no special Constitutional provisions are needed for J&K.
“This debate on Article 370 subsequent to Modi raising it in the Jammu rally revealed what people of Jammu and Kashmir are missing out on. This Article has been used as a shield to stop many of those great legislations which have been passed in the country from reaching J&K,” BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.
Elaborating on the issue, she said no elections to local bodies have been held in the State in four years, and sought to know why the 73rd and 74th Amendments (for urban and rural local bodies) have not been implemented in J&K.
“For all this, can the Congress tell us, the amendment which Indira Gandhi brought to the Preamble of the Constitution- Secular, Socialist, Republic- that is what is not implemented in J&K. Why should J&K be excluded? Even the unanimous resolution passed in 1994 reiterated J&K as an integral part of India,” Sitharaman said.
BJP claimed that any law passed by Parliament which benefits the rest of the country should benefit J&K too.
“So using this Article, if there is a filtering out- Delimitation Act is not implemented there… Is it fair? Sitharaman asked.
She said Modi’s intention of saying that was to highlight that the article has been used by a small, privileged and influential section of J&K, to filter out several progressive legislations intended to empower citizens.
“It may be time now for Congress Party, National Conference and Omar Abdullah to explain and answer questions of how they have denied the people of J&K – women, SC, ST and OBC in particular – their due rights.”
She maintained that the much-touted Right to Information Act has been modified and diluted under the last three chief ministers of J&K.
“Children of women married to non-residents are denied rights to education, property, jobs and even vote in the local bodies and in the Assembly,” Sitharaman claimed.
She said that because the Representation of People Act 1951 and the Delimitation Act of 2002 and the various amendments therein are not applicable to J&K, many distant, backward and remote areas such as Kathua, Udhampur, Rajouri, Poonch, Kupwara and Ladakh are underrepresented.
Asked about the timing of her party in taking up this issue, she asked which time was correct to talk about it.
“Last 50 years nobody talked about it. There is no question of a time being suitable or not where denial of rights is concerned. It has rattled some vested interest sitting in J&K and they have to do a lot of explaining to their people rather than saying Narendra Modi is misleading the public,” she added.
NC and PDP have both supported a completely regressive, anti-women Bill – The Jammu and Kashmir Permanent Resident (Disqualification) Bill 2004 in the J&K Assembly.
“It is shocking that this happened after 7th October 2002, when the J&K High Court ruled in favour of the daughters of J&K,” Sitharaman added. (AGENCIES)
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