Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 8: Terming it as bemoaning of the votaries of the autonomous status of J&K, the former Union Minister, Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta observed that the big step of scraping of obnoxious Article 370, has obviously shaken those politicians who have lost the fiefdom of enjoying unbridled powers to play havoc with the rights of the people and to create communal and regional divide at the cost of Indian blood and butter.
Prof. Gupta said that it would be advisable for all concerned to accept the change like a statesman instead of creating the confusion and bickering as the Article 370 had caused more harm than any good to the State and its people. He said it was an irony that the temporary provision of Article 370 remained in the statue book for 70 years despite struggle and sacrifice by the great patriots like Dr. Mukherji and Pandit Prem Nath Dogra as also many others.
He regretted that certain Congress leaders and some others have not learnt any lesson from the bungling of the past and still continue to raise confusing voices but for vote bank politics.
Prof. Gupta said that it was strange that the Congress as the national level party has not come out with a clear cut stand viz. Article 370 and if it was good then why they did not make it permanent by removing the word of temporary even during all these seven decades.
The author of the book titled “Article 370 A Thorn” Prof. Gupta in his statement also recalled that the controversial provision was adopted to pamper his friend Sheikh Mohd Abdullah by Jawahar Lal Nehru despite opposition by the then Law Minister, Dr. B.R Ambedkar and other nationalists. Nehru had tried to pacify them by pointing out that this was being adopted just as a temporary provision and would wither away with the passage of time. But it was strange that descendents of Nehru are still pleading for its retention and are engaged in creating a fuss ignoring the fact.
There is no scope to put the clock back, he asserted and stressed for corrections of the wrongs inflicted during all these years to the polity of the country.
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