As campaigning for the first phase of District Development Council (DDC) polls in Jammu and Kashmir gathers momentum, the Bhartiya Janata Party has launched an all-out attack on the Gupkar alliance for trying to fool people by promising to restore the region’s special status that was revoked last year. The party has sought to send out a clear message that the step taken by the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 5 last year is irrevocable.
The message is important because DDC polls are the first electoral exercise being held in Jammu and Kashmir since the revocation of its special status and its bifurcation into two union territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh – to ensure their proper development.
Speaking to the media recently, BJP national spokesperson Shahnawaz made it clear that DCC polls were being fought over local developmental issues and their results should not be seen as a referendum on the Centre’s decision last year to revoke the special status of the erstwhile state. Stating that the dead do not return from their graves the leader asserted that Article 370 had been buried for good.
Shahnawaz was not only articulating the views of his party and its senior leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, but also echoing the sentiments of crores of Indians who had celebrated the scrapping of J&K’s special status following which the region has become truly integrated with the rest of the country for the first time. The move has also dealt a blow to terrorists and separatist leaders who had been calling the shots in the valley with least regard for the sentiments and welfare of the majority.
Pakistan’s support to these separatist leaders has been an open secret. Only a few months ago, a section of the media had reported about the Pakistan senate’s move to award the country’s highest civilian honour, ‘Nishaan-e-Pakistan’, to Kashmiri separatist leader and former Hurriyat Conference chief Syed Ali Shah Geelani. The senate of Pakistan was reported to have passed a resolution in this regard.
India had celebrated when Prime Minister Modi took the bold step of scrapping Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, which, instead of benefiting the common people in the valley, had actually led to their insulation from the rest of the country. The situation was exploited to the hilt by terrorists and the separatist leaders. It also suited the politics of parties such the National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party, now the part of the Gupkar alliance, that are demanding restoration of Article 370 and statehood in Jammu and Kashmir.
However, Prime Minister Modi remains firm on his decision as he is convinced that the step taken by his government on August 5 last year is not only in the interest of the people of Jammu and Kashmir but also the entire country. He remains committed to the development of J&K with the rest of the country.
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