Early Times Report
JAMMU, Oct 30: Describing as unfortunate the J&K BJP’s in-charge and party’s national vice-president Avinash Rai Khanna’s stand that my statements demanding trifurcation of the state into Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh States for “ending alienation in Jammu” are “disturbing and communal” and I am playing “dirty” role using the party’s name, senior BJP leader Prof Hari Om, on Fridaysaid that Khanna has not done justice with him, the RSS, Governor of Goa Prof O P Kohli and the state BJP leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister and former party president Nirmal Singh, Forest Minister Bali Bhagat and MLC and former party president Ashok Khajuria.
I am serving the BJP with a single-minded devotion for more than two decades and also propagated the party’s ideology at the state, national and international levels through my writings, he said, adding that he is a senior member of the party, who has served it as its vice-president, chief spokesperson and member of the party’s core and election committees and prepared not one but three election manifestos for J&K BJP in 2002, 2008 and 2014.
The 2002 and 2008 election manifestos did talk about reorganization/trifurcation of the state and vouched for a dispensation for Jammu Pradesh that was invested with adequate administrative and financial powers, he said, adding that even Arun Jaitley, presently Union Finance Minister, and myself had prepared a note at the Delhi residence of the former that demanded for Jammu Pradesh.
“The J&K unit of the BJP unanimously adopted three resolutions on reorganization/trifurcation of J&K when Nirmal Singh and Ashok Khajuria headed the state unit.
All these resolutions were prepared and moved by me, which were seconded by Bali Bhagat, Chander Mohan Sharma and Shamsher Singh Singh, in the presence of Prof O P Kohli and Manohar Lal, presently Chief Minister of Haryana, and adopted unanimously,” claimed Prof Hari Om while commenting on Khanna’s unfortunate tirade against him.
“Being an outsider Khanna, unfortunately, doesn’t know anything about the state of J&K and the political aspirations, needs and compulsions of the people of the suppressed, persecuted, neglected and marginalized people of Jammu Pradesh, as also about the political history of struggles in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh,” he said, adding that the suffering people of Jammu province have not given the mandate to any leader from outside Jammu Pradesh to speak for and on their behalf and that the people of Jammu Pradesh are the masters of their own destiny.
He further added that Khanna has not only dubbed the local BJP
leadership as communal by terming its demand for trifurcation of the state as disturbing and communal, but also lowered the position of the RSS, which in 2002 adopted a resolution at Kurukhestra demanding separation of Jammu Pradesh from Kashmir Valley and founded Jammu State Morcha (JSM) to contest the Assembly elections that year in the region on the slogan of statehood for Jammu Pradesh.
“RSS ideologue MG Vaidya was one of the main speakers in the seminars on
trifurcation of J&K, which were organized in Jammu and Delhi in which I was also one of the main speakers,” revealed Prof Hari Om to put things in right perspective and make the BJP national vice-president aware of the true picture of facts.
How could the BJP’s support to the demand in Ladakh for Union Territory status is secular and how could the demand in Jammu Pradesh for statehood communal and disturbing when both mean division of the state? he asked.
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