NEW DELHI, Dec 11: Congress’ leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury today asked the Government when it would reclaim Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir, while also demanding that elections be held in Jammu and Kashmir and its Statehood restored.
His remarks came after the Supreme Court today upheld the Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir, and directed the restoration of Statehood “at the earliest” as well as elections to the Assembly by September 30 next year.
Asked about the verdict, Chowdhury said it was also the Congress’ view that Article 370 was a temporary ad hoc measure and when it was put in place, the reasons were explained
“We have been demanding in Parliament that when will you restore the Statehood. Inside Parliament, (Home Minister) Amit Shah was saying with great conviction that we will reclaim Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, so they should tell us when will they reclaim PoK. Elections will come and go but reclaim PoK before this election,” Chowdhury told reporters outside Parliament.
He asked the Government to state when will elections be conducted in Jammu and Kashmir.
“We used to say remove 370 but do not commit atrocities on the common persons. When Article 370 was abrogated, what had happened in Kashmir. Thousands of people belonging to political parties, civil society apart from journalists were put in jails and they languished there,” Chowdhury said.
“If the Supreme Court had taken a decision before it would have been better but better late than never. We want that the Government on the directive of Supreme Court hold elections and the statehood be restored,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Congress Monday demanded immediate restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and said assembly elections should be held there immediately to enable people to elect a government of their choice.
Congress leaders P Chidambaram and Abhishek Singhvi said the judgement of the Supreme Court in cases concerning the abrogation of Article 370 has decided many issues but has left some.
The judgement needs a careful study, Chidambaram said at the joint press conference here, noting “prima facie we respectfully disagree with judgment on how Article 370 was abrogated”.
He said the Congress has always demanded the restoration of full statehood of Jammu and Kashmir and “we welcome the SC verdict in this regard”.
“Full statehood must be restored immediately. The aspirations of the people of Ladakh must also be fulfilled. We welcome the SC’s direction to hold assembly elections. However, we believe elections should be held immediately and there is no reason to wait till September 30, 2024,” the senior Congress leader said.
“When elections are held, the people of Jammub and Kashmir will have the opportunity to express their views on the crucial questions that we debated in the SC. An opportunity that has been denied to them so far,” he said.
“We are also disappointed that SC did not decide on the question of dismembering the state and reducing its status to two union territories. That question is being reserved for adjudication in a suitable case in future,” he said.
Singhvi also said the Supreme Court verdict is the law of the land now and the debate on the issue has now come to an end. “Democracy, and not autocracy, is the demand of every citizen of Jammu and Kashmir. Why is the BJP afraid of an elected Government,” Singhvi asked.(PTI)
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