Excelsior Correspondent
SAMBA, July 8: While terming the recent statement of BJP leader Arun Jaitely at Jammu that Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru was responsible for the Kashmir problem vis-à-vis Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and the Delhi Agreement of 1952 as mis-conceived, former Minister and senior NC leader Dr Sheikh Mustafa Kamal today said that both these provisions in our constitution have been incorporated by the will of both houses of Parliament in which late Shyama Parsad Mukherjee was a member of Lok Sabha and Industries Minister in Nehru’s Cabinet.
Addressing public meetings at Vijaypur and Treva near Bishnah today, the NC leader termed it as cheap gimmick of BJP leader that Late Shyama Parsad Mukherjee laid down his life for the integration of J&K with India. “It was the Indian Parliament which gave the State a special status within the Union by making the accession conditional under terms and conditions of the instrument of accession of Maharaja Hari Singh. It was endorsed by the people of India and not a creation of Nehru, Dr Kamal maintained.
“The problem started when these solemn commitments by the people of India through their representatives in the first elected Parliament of India were unilaterally eroded. It amounted to treachery committed against the people of J&K. This was the root cause of alienation of the people of J&K from the Indian mainstream. It is high time that New Delhi wakes up from the past blunders and wins the hearts of the people by accepting the recommendations for the Sageer Working Group on Centre-State relations”, Dr Kamal added.
The NC leader further assured the people that party was committed to mitigate the problems of the people and their legitimate grievances. Provincial president of the party Rattan Lal Gupta, Industrial Minister S S Slathia, Dr Kamal Arora, T S Tony, Kuldeep Raj and Satwant Dogra also spoke on the occasion.