Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 30: Terming the Article 370 as a thorn in the polity of Jammu & Kashmir, the former Union Minister and MLA, Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta regretted that instead of discussing merits and demerits of the provision, certain protagonists of the so called “special status” are trying to link it with the accession of this State with Indian Union.
Commenting on the ongoing controversy about this article, Prof. Gupta said that on the very face of it the provision has been incorporated in the Statue book as “temporary” but it was strange that even the Congress leaders are trying to link this controversial provision with the accession of the State ignoring the fact that under law Jammu & Kashmir acceded to Indian Union on October 26, 1947, when the ruler of the State Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession whereas this Article 370 was adopted in October, 1949, after two years of the accession. It was ridiculous to say that this provision is a bridge between this State and rest of India, he added and pointed out that when this provision was adopted amidst protests from the nationalists the then Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru on the floor of Parliament had assured that this temporary provision would wither away with the passage of the time.
He further said that it was strange that even some Congressmen were also in the forefront along with some other elements in pleading for retention of this Article ignoring the fact that what Nehru and others had promised to the nationalists India.
Prof. Gupta said that Article 370 has caused more harm than any good to the country as a whole, more so, the people of J&K who have been deprived of their basic rights and badly affecting the progress and prosperity of this State.
This Article is obnoxious and harmful for the country, Prof. Gupta has written a book regarding Article 370 under the title “A Thorn in Kashmir ” and given the detailed account of damages that have been inflicted to the people during all these years.
He said that Article 370 is an offshoot of the sad communal partition of the country in 1947 and many of the protagonists are infected by the virus of two nation theory or ignorant about the facts of the history.
He maintained that the retention of Article 370 is not only against the unity and national interests but also injurious to the rights of the people in Jammu and Kashmir. More so, it is a paradoxical situation that the representatives of the State in the Parliament make laws for the entire country but these do not apply to this State like other parts of India and thus the people of J&K are deprived of their benefits.
Nationalist Youth Congress (NYC), Youth Wing of NCP held a demonstration outside the Press Club Jammu under the chairmanship of Gourav Kapoor, president NYC J&K State on the issue of Article 370. While supporting the stand of veteran State president NCP Former Tourism, Information and Ladakh Affairs Minister, Thakur Randhir Singh. Others who addressed the rally were Tarsem Singh Manhas, general secretary (NYC), Sandeep Singh Manhas general secretary NCP along with youth team on scrapping of Article 370 in J&K.
Gourav Kapoor said as far as Article 370 is concerned it has outlived its utility common man has not been benefitted from this constitutional provision and only few families from Kashmir Valley have exploited article 370 for their personal gains. This provision has given rise to separatist tendencies and youth particularly new generation is being misled by leaders of Kashmir for their personal benefits. “As a youth leader I have undertaken tour of the entire state and found the atmosphere most polluted for the growth of educated youth which have got no future they are running from pillar to post and lakhs of educated youth from Jammu and Valley are working as labourers in Amritsar, Delhi , Mumbai and others states of India.
Other senior leader of youth wing present during protest include R.C. Manhas, Mithun Sharma, Rohan Thappa , Vikas, Lovely, Deepak, Sumit, Kishore Verma, Akhil Jamwal, Rahul Jamwal, Deepanshu, Dharminder Singh , Arun Koul, Rishi Munday and many others.
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