Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 1: Former Union Minister Prof Chaman Lal Gupta has asserted that Kashmir is core of India and those who are terming it as a dispute and talking about its secession or any differential treatment but for religious or ethnic grounds, they are misleading the people and committing sedition.
The basic principles of the Constitution in this regard are very clear, he added and observed that Articles 370 or 35-A were fallacy on the very face of it. “The Article 370 was incorporated as ‘Temporary Provision’ but it was an irony that this still existed in the statue book even after seven decades providing opportunity to certain elements infected by communal virus to create fuss and fish in troubled water for greed to regain power,” he added.
Prof Gupta, who is an author of a book viz “Article 370, A Thorn” pointed out that the Accession of J&K had taken place in October, 1947, when the Maharaja Hari Singh had signed the Instrument of Accession, which was the same document which was signed by over 560 princes of the country. This was legally final and irrevocable.
This fact was even voiced by no less a person than Sheikh Mohd Abdullah on February 5, 1948, at the World Fora of UN that ‘not the Accession but the aggression by Pakistan is the issue’ he recalled and pointed out that the Article 370 was incorporated after about three years and that too after opposition by the nationalists including the then Law Minister, Dr BR Ambedkar.
The former Minister said it is strange that the leaders of the Congress have not learnt any lesson of the past and they still continue to have their hate and love relations with the dubious characters in Kashmir. All this was responsible for the sad situation in Kashmir which needed to be tackled with firmness and to make clear to all that the Kashmir is an integral part of India and it would not be defected.
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