Early Times Report
JAMMU, Sept 21: It was on March 1, 2015 that the PDP-BJP 'Agenda of Alliance' was made public in Jammu, almost three hours after the formation of the coalition Government in the state. Ever since then, the politically conscious people of Jammu region have been criticizing it and demanding its withdrawal, saying "it is an agenda of subversion, an agenda of capitulation, another rivet in the chain of Jammu slavery and a new charter of bondage for Jammu".
The AIIMS Coordination Committee (ACC), which spearheaded the movement for the establishment of AIIMS in Jammu, but withdrew the agitation in a most dramatic manner, had consistently attacked the Agenda of Alliance and termed it anti-Jammu, saying it envisaged the establishment of AIIMS in Kashmir instead of Jammu as promised by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 28, 2015 during his budget speech. Besides, the ACC repeatedly demanded withdrawal of the agenda of alliance saying that it was a dangerous document and accused the BJP of bartering the rights and interests of the people of Jammu region for some loaves and fishes of office. While signing the 'Agenda of Alliance' and surrendering the interests of Jammu region, the party in fact signed the document of 'End of its Political Life' in Jammu. This is what the majority people feel across Jammu region.
However, it was on Sunday that hundreds of advocates and a large number of civil society members, opinion makers and academicians met to discuss the implications of the agenda of alliance for the people of Jammu and Ladakh regions, for the state of J&K and for the country as a whole. They in one voice demanded its withdrawal. In fact, they asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw it. "He cannot allow the implementation of the agenda of alliance that has completely abandoned the 1.5 lakh refugees and that only makes India to retreat from Jammu & Kashmir," they said.
Very significantly, many termed the agenda of alliance as the "agenda of abdication". "It is not just an agenda of subversion; it is an agenda of abdication," they said. They asserted that the framers of the agenda of alliance adopted the Vajpayee line and came out with a highly objectionable document which ought to be opposed tooth and nail as it "discourages the nationalist voices in J&K".
"New Delhi cannot force its authority on Jammu & Kashmir just to appease Pakistan and the separatist communal forces in the valley. It is duty bound to defend the Indian sovereign rights, defend the territorial integrity of India and protect and promote further the interests of the nationalist forces, particular in Jammu region, who have been fighting relentlessly for the country in Jammu & Kashmir," said civil society members, and added that it was ironical that the BJP came out with an agenda that surrendered the interests of the minorities and national interests for the sake of petty political power.
"It was Vajpayee during whose regime that the anti-India forces started talking about shared sovereignty, soft borders, irrelevant Line of Control, India-Pakistan joint control or joint-governance, demilitarisation, Islamic banking, dual currency, economic independence, Musharraf formula, Kathwari formula, Chenab formula," one of the civil society members said, and added that the new agenda only legitimised Kashmiri Muslim sub-nationalism or soft secessionism.
What he said was correct - correct because Arnab Goswami of TIMES NOW had also stated that there was nothing wrong with those who practiced soft-secessionism in Kashmir or those believed in the concept of Kashmiri sub-nationalism. He was also correct when he questioned the Vajpayee policy. Vajpayee would have abdicated, had he got another mandate in 2004. Credit goes to the Indian electorate who after seeing through the Vajpayee game-plan boot the BJP-led NDA out of power. Even the RSS ideologue Ram Madhav who in collaboration with PDP leaders like Haseeb Drabu had prepared the agenda of alliance and very senior RSS functionaries in Nagpur and at 11 Ashoka Road - apart from - Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a former RSS Pracharak, endorsed it, commended it, defended it and opined that it was the best document.
Now that lawyers and leading civil society members in Jammu have rejected it and demanded its withdrawal in the larger national interest and in the interest of the nationalist people of the state, it is time for the BJP to review its stand on the agenda of alliance. It must reject it like the Jammu society rejected it on Sunday. Such a gesture on its part would help it regain the people's confidence. |
