1991 05 Media Round-Up - J-K Poll Exclusion

(Indian Express)

JAMMU, April 18-The Bharatiya Janata Party expressed the apprehension that the Centre's deci- sion to exclude Jammu and Kashmir from the pro- cess of elections was a prelude to "a sinister design" to revive the Assembly, and to "fiddle with" the constitutional status of the state.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Chaman Lal Gupta, the state BJP president, said the problem of militancy was confined to Kashmir. Therefore, it should not have been difficult to hold elections at least in Jammu and Ladakh regions.

The decision to exclude the entire state from the electoral process "speaks volumes" about the Cen- tre's approach, Mr Gupta said, and added, "There appears to be a move to revive the Assembly and fiddle with the status of Jammu and Kashmir, as suggested by certain self-styled free thinkers, led by the former Chief Minister, Mr Syed Mir Qasim".

However, the "ill-advised decision" had already created an impression as if the entire state was "in the grip of militancy", Mr Gupta said and pointed our that the Pakistani media had started exploiting it for anti-India propaganda.

Mr Gupta said the Centre's action also amounted to punishing the peaceful people of the state for the anti-national activities of one section of the population at the behest of Pakistan.

Already, the state did not have any elected body, be it panchayat, local bodies or co-operatives. But instead of holding elections for constituting these bodies, the Government was going to set up nominated advisory committees and had also cancelled Lok Sabha elections. Mr Gupta said.

The BJP state chief said that the Centre's deci- sion not to hold elections was in line with the earlier decision not to hold census, which was taken at the behest of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the then Union Home Minister.

'Govt is pro-Kashmir'

According to Mr Gupta, the census was cancelled only because Jammu had overtaken Kashmir's population as a result of migration, first of Hindus, and then of Muslims, from the Valley. The census would have exposed this reality, making it impossible to continue the subjugation of Jammu and Ladakh by Kashmir, he maintained.

The BJP president said the pro-Kashmir bias of the government was also reflected in the fact that only leaders of the National Conference and the Congress(1) belonging to the Valley had been nominated on the delimitation commission.

Mr Gupta took stong exception to the recent statements of Mr Rajiv Gandhi and Dr Farooq Abdullah, criticising the security forces for their alleged violation of human rights of the Kashmiri people.

During the election campaign, the BJP would mobilise its workers among Kashmiri migrants who would follow Mr Gandhi and Dr Abdullah all over the country to expose their false propaganda, Mr Gupta said.

(Indian Express)

DISCLAIMER: 

The views expressed in the Article above are Kashmir Samiti’s Team’s views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. 

Courtesy: May 1991, Koshur Samachar