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| Assertion of Congress that Azad's was the best regime flawed -- I | | What Congress did in 2007? | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Dec 5: The J&K Congress leaders, including from Jammu and Ladakh, say day-in-and day-out that Ghulam Nabi Azad's was the best period (Nov 2005 to July 2008) and that the Congress is the only party that can administer justice to all the three regions as it believes in the principle of justice and equity.
This appears a flawed assertion when viewed the light of what the Azad-led Congress-PDP government did to Jammu and the nation in 2007 on the floor of the Legislative Assembly itself.
A brief reflection on what the ruling coalition comprising the Congress, the PDP, the PDF and the CPI-M and the main opposition NC did in the Assembly during the budget session is necessary to show what they actually stood for. Hence, a reference here to their attitude to at least eight "Private Member's Bills" about which the BJP delegate spoke in the roundtable conference.
One, the JKNPP, one of the coalition partners, moved a "Private Member's Bill" in the Assembly seeking support of the House in favour of the suggestion that there should be only one flag for the state. In effect, the bill highlighted the significance of the national flag and wanted all the political parties to adopt the same so that the provisions concerning the state flag were repealed and the national flag reigned supreme in Jammu and Kashmir as was the case with other states of the Union. All the coalition partners, without any exception, and the opposition NC summarily rejected the landmark "Private Member's Bill", which was simply aimed at integrating the state with the rest of the country or bringing the state on a par with other states.
Two, it may sound unbelievable and ludicrous, but it is a fact that all the coalition partners, with the exception of JKNPP, adopted in no time a "Private Member's Bill", which was moved by the opposition NC. The bill provided for one-year imprisonment for those who would not show the kind of respect the state flag deserves. The NC had moved this bill to counter the BJP's age-old one-flag (national flag) and one-constitution (Indian Constitution) slogan. The defeat of the "Private Member's Bill" on national flag and the adoption of the bill on punishment for those not showing due respect to the state flag and the unqualified support extended by the ruling party to the Valley-based outfits had sprang a big surprise.
Three, the BJP legislator moved a "Private Member's Bill seeking citizenship rights for the refugees from West Pakistan, numbering approximately 1.5 lakh. He made a passionate plea to the House that his bill needed to be passed as these hapless refugees had been denied their fundamental rights, including the right to own immovable property in the state, right to contest election to the Assembly and local bodies, right to franchise, right to equality, right to higher and professional education, right to bank loan, right to obtain jobs under the State Government and so on, but with no result. The ruling party and all other parties, barring the JKNPP and the JSM, opposed the bill tooth and nail. The result was the collapse of the bill.
The opposition of the ruling Congress to the bill was beyond comprehension considering the fact that Manmohan Singh (Prime Minister), Lal Kishan Advani (former Deputy Prime Minister and presently Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha), Inder Kumar Gujral (former Prime Minister), Jagmohan (former Governor and Union Minister), Arun Shourie (Member Rajya Sabha and former Union Minister) and so on were all refugees from Pakistan. That the Congress and the NC, the PDP, the PDF and the CPI-M joined hands and got the bill defeated only indicated their lack of commitment to the human rights of the refugees from West Pakistan, as also their willingness to go with those in Kashmir who were opposed to these refugees on the ground that their empowerment would change the demographic profile of the Assembly segments in Jammu and enhance the Jammu's representation in the legislature.
Four, the JKNPP moved another "Private Member's Bill" seeking incorporation of the words "secularism and socialism" in the preamble of the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution. The upshot of its whole argument was that "since the preamble of the Indian Constitution contained these two words, the same needed to be incorporated in the State Constitution so that the state polity was given a secular and socialist orientation". The bill failed to carry conviction. The ruling Congress, its coalition partners, including the Left parties, plus the opposition NC, rejected out-of-hand this bill, thus indicating their negative approach to the cardinal principles of secularism and socialism.
Five, the JKNPP moved yet another "Private Member's Bill" in the Assembly in the same session. It was designed to ensure parity between Kashmir and Jammu as far as their representation in the Assembly was concerned.
The bill said that Jammu province and Kashmir division each be divided into 52 Assembly segments so that the Jammu's age-old grievance was redressed. But it was bitterly opposed. The ruling Congress, like the PDP, the NC, the CPI-M and the PDF, repudiated outright this bill. The opposition of the Congress to the bill was all the more surprising considering the fact that its core constituency was Jammu province, especially its Hindu-majority areas, which returned as many as 24 members to the Assembly. (To be concluded) |
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