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| Shamsher for grant of passport, Jehangir says no | | Jammu BJP a divided house | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, May 23: The Jammu-based senior BJP leaders are a divided house. State BJP president Jugal Kishore Sharma and member of Rajya Sabha Shamsher Singh Manhas, who represent high command in Jammu & Kashmir, are for the grant of passport to seditionist and Pakistan agent Syed Ali Shah Geelani. They have even gone to the extent of declaring that the BJP and the PDP are "on the same page" as far as the passport issue is concerned. They even held a press conference at the party headquarters to express solidarity with Geelani and send a message to the PDP that the BJP was with it on the issue. The PDP considers the whole issue "humanitarian" and has approached the Union Government for the purpose. Shamsher Singh took another opportunity to side with Geelani. Talking to a reporter of a news channel, he spoke the PDP language and said the issue was "humanitarian, as Geelani wants to meet her ailing daughter at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia".
On the other hand, there are BJP leaders in Jammu who are seemingly opposed to the demand seeking passport for Geelani. They include MLC Ashok Khajuria, MLA Ravinder Raina and spokesperson Arun Gupta. They have told various news channels that they are against the Geelani's online application and that they want a stringent action against the Pakistani agent. They want to Government of India to deport Geelani to Pakistan so that he could get travel documents from Pakistan Foreign Office. In fact, they support the party's Kashmir-based spokesperson Khalid Jehangir. Jehangir was the first in the BJP who raised a banner of revolt against Geelani, an intervention that led to the whole controversy leading to the refusal on the part of the IFO to grant passport to Geelani.
The Indian Foreign Office (IFO) didn't reject the application on principle; it rejected the application saying Geelani didn't fill all the columns in the application. Hours after the Union Home Ministry said that the request will be processed on "merit" as the travel document is the "right of every Indian citizen", External Affairs Ministry asserted that "the application cannot be processed in its present form". "We have seen media reports of Syed Ali Geelani's passport application. An incomplete passport application was received from him. Fees were not paid and the biometric details and photographs not submitted," Spokesperson in MEA, Vikas Swarup said.
The stand taken by the BJP has been condemned in the country. In fact, the stand of the BJP has been taken to mean an "act of betrayal". "We have never seen such a weak and meek government at the centre," said many while reacting to the reports that the IFO rejected the application on technical grounds. "We must not leave any room for the BJP for maneuverability," said one of the critics, who was considered very close some BJP top men. The fact of the matter is that the BJP yet again lost its face despite the fact that the IFO didn't grant passport to Geelani. Credit goes to Jehangir, who has been firm on his stand from day one, notwithstanding the fact that he resides in Kashmir and that the followers of Geelani could act against him.
Meanwhile, a PTI report quoting Home Minister Rajnath Singh suggested that the BJP Government might buckle under pressure and issue passport to Geelani. The report read: "If it (application) comes to us after due formalities, we will think over it....We have no objections". Unfortunate and disgusting. |
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