Ekta yatra: India is not a banana republic, will hoist flag, vows Jaitley

Ekta yatra: India is not a banana republic, will hoist flag, vows Jaitley

Ekta yatra: India is not a banana republic, will hoist flag, vows Jaitley

Agencies
Tags : Ekta yatra, lal chow, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, flag hoisting, Omar Abdullah
Posted: Tue Jan 25 2011, 16:32 hrs
Madhopur:

Both the BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj today slammed the Omar Abdullah-led J&K government for stopping them from entering Jammu and also rejected Centre's appeal to turn back.



Clearly miffed at being arrested in Jammu yesterday yet not being allowed to stay in the state, which dampened the 'ekta yatris' spirits, Swaraj said that she was told a lie that the BJP leaders were being taken to jail and yet they were unceremoniously dumped in Punjab.


The Opposition leader now says that the Centre or state government must either arrest the BJP 'ekta yatris' in Jammu or they be allowed to hoist the flag.


She says there is no middle ground on this.


They have vowed to go ahead with the proposed flag hoisting at Srinagar's Lal Chowk tomorrow and thereby successfully conclude their 'ekta yatra'.


"We will head towards Jammu and then towards Kashmir Valley for hoisting national flag at Lal Chowk along with hundreds of our activists. Where ever they stop us, we will sit there on a dharna till January 26," Swaraj told reporters.



The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said, "We will not leave till 6 p.m. tomorrow. We will sit on dharna till then. If they want to arrest us, they can do so at any place."


Swaraj along with Jaitley and former Union Minister Ananth Kumar were sent back from Jammu and dropped on the bridge over Ravi river at Punjab's border at Madhopur near here late last night.


Jaitley said Home Minister P Chidambaram had phoned him at Jammu airport yesterday asking him to fly back to Delhi saying they had made their point.


"We are not a banana republic... the way we were detained. They cannot physically throw us out like that. I informed the Home Minister regarding this to which he said that he would look into it," Jaitley said.


He described as a "criminal act" the Centre's decision to divert trains bound for Jammu. "What the government did by diverting trains and expelling the leaders amounts to hijack," he said.


Jaitley claimed that the situation in J&K was worse than it was in 1953 when people required a permit to enter the state. "But today you physically pick up people and throw them out of the state," Jaitley said.


Swaraj said that they were determined to hoist the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar tomorrow.


"We told authorities to either arrest us or allow us to proceed further for the BJP party rally there but they put us separately in three vehicles and dropped us at the bridge here even though we were told that we were being shifted to a jail in Jammu.


"They are employing such gimmicks.... The leaders of opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha are not being told the truth and the way they are physically taken away is something unprecedented and unheard of," she said.


Chidambaram today appealed to the BJP leaders to give up the "path of confrontation" and not push any "political agenda" that will affect peace in Jammu and Kashmir.


"I would request the two Leaders of the Opposition (in Parliament) and their colleagues to give up the path of confrontation, return to Delhi and join the celebrations in Delhi on Republic Day," he said in a statement.


The J&K government has sealed the border with Punjab and put barbed wire on the bridge over Ravi river connecting the two states.

The Hindu : States / Other States : Omar blames separatists for Srinagar violence

The Hindu : States / Other States : Omar blames separatists for Srinagar violence

Omar blames separatists for Srinagar violence

PTI

SRINAGAR, September 11, 2010

courtesy: http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article627110.ece

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday accused the Chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umer Farooq of betraying the trust reposed when his close aide asked for permission for march to Lal Chowk and said violent incidents would result in setback for any political initiative in the State.

“Today’s protests were uncalled for as people wanted to celebrate Eid after a month long fasting. But violence like today’s will result in set back for any initiative that the Government can think for breaking the impasse,” he said reacting to protests in the state capital in which two government buildings were set on fire.

Accusing the Mirwaiz and JKLF Chief Yaseen Malik of failing in their duty to maintain peace, Mr. Omar said, “It was the Mirwaiz’s office which approached a senior official in my government and requested for permission to have a march to Lal Chowk.

“They were repeatedly asked that the mob will go out of control but the repeated insistence from the separatist camp for allowing them a political space for peaceful march made me overrule suggestions of my police officials. However, whatever has happened later from Lal chowk can be termed as betrayal of trust,” he said.

While the Chief Minister refrained from naming the close aide of the Mirwaiz, but sources said the offer was made by the Hurriyat Chairman through Shahid-ul-Islam, a former chief of terrorist group Hizbullah.

The Chief Minister said the onus for maintaining peace was totally on the two separatists leaders who have been “accusing my government for not providing them space for a peaceful protest.”

Asked whether such incidents would cast a shadow on the talks about partial removal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), he said “while we want the changes to take place but such incidents would definitely have a bearing on any moves to restore peace.”

The Mirwaiz aide reasoned out that the march was a political necessity for them as the space for separatists in the Valley was shrinking fast, the sources said.

However, as the mob in Lal Chowk started turning hostile, the Mirwaiz and his aides quickly disappeared from the scene.

The Chief Minister was at present in Delhi where he would be holding consultations with the Central leaders ahead of a crucial Cabinet Committee on Security on Monday.

Reacting to the Chief Minister, the Mirwaiz said it was people’s anger that was playing out on the street though he would not justify the violence.

Keywords: Omar Abdullah, Kashmir violence, Lal Chowk protest

The Hindu : News / National : Cabinet Committee on Security to meet on Monday

The Hindu : News / National : Cabinet Committee on Security to meet on Monday

Cabinet Committee on Security to meet on Monday

PTI

NEW DELHI, September 11, 2010

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) will meet on Monday to consider options to restore peace in Kashmir, including state government’s demand for partial withdrawal of controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

The CCS meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is being convened on Monday, PMO sources said.

The meeting comes amid indications that the government could announce some initiatives to end the three-month-long unrest in the Valley.

The top Congress leadership, including party chief Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister, met here yesterday to deliberate on the volatile situation in the state where the party is sharing power with National Conference.

The Congress Core Group had discussed the demand for withdrawal of AFSPA from some areas in Jammu and Kashmir but was divided on the issue.

At the meeting also attended by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Congress president’s political secretary Ahmed Patel, Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Home Minister P. Chidambaram aired divergent views on the demands on AFSPA withdrawal.

Prithviraj Chavan, AICC in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir, and senior party leaders from the state Ghulam Nabi Azad and Saifuddin Soz also attended the meeting.

Reflecting the security establishment’s apprehensions, Mr. Antony opposed any decision to even partially withdraw AFSPA while Chidambaram is understood to have emphasised the need for some political action to break the impasse in the Valley.

Mr. Antony is believed to have cautioned that the Army should not be projected as a “demon“.

There was a view that the four districts of the state from where AFSPA’s withdrawal is being demanded by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has no Army presence.

It was also pointed out that there is no guarantee that stone pelting, which has been going on for three months, would stop even if the AFSPA is withdrawn from these districts.

Keywords: Cabinet Committee on Security, Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, AFSPA, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, Home Minister P. Chidambaram

Sheikh Abdullah: The Tragic Hero of Kashmir by Ajit Bhattacharjea

Vice President releases the Book ‘Sheikh Abdullah: The Tragic Hero of Kashmir

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

source: http://www.indiaeducationdiary.in/showCD.asp?newsid=789

New Delhi: The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari released the book entitled 'Sheikh Abdullah: The Tragic Hero of Kashmir' authored by veteran journalist Shri Ajit Bhattacharjea at a function here today.

The book is a well documented account of the life of Sheikh Abdullah who contributed crucially to the making of modern India in terms of territory and more importantly to its founding ideology of secularism. Drawing upon a wide range of sources, the author takes us through Sheikh Abdullah's long, tragic periods of detention until he was persuaded to return to Jammu and Kashmir as Chief Minister.

Shri Farooq Abdullah, son of late Sheikh Abdullah, Shri Omar Abdullah, grandson of late Sheikh Abdullah, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, former CM of J&K, Prof. Mushirul Hassan, VC of Jamia Islamia and many dignitaries were present on the occasion.

Following is the text of the Vice President's address on the occasion:-

"This book is living history at its best. It is the record of happening of a generation that is all but gone. For this reason alone, it is invaluable. It is also a profoundly disturbing book. It reinforces the view that we are still in the process of learning about the momentous events relating to J&K in the early years of our independence.

There are snippets of information that help a reader understand a shade better the role of the principal actors. There are insights which are invaluable. The book does need to be read with some diligence, preferably with other material now in the public domain.

Some of the events mentioned and documented in the book have a contemporary relevance. Nehru's emphatic observations on the impulses behind the Jammu agitation in 1952-53 are a case in point. Sheikh Abdullah gave vent to his sentiments in the speech of July 31, 1952 and Nehru stated the Indian position in his long letter of June 1953.

Two factors mentioned in the book are critical to the understanding of the approaches of different actors in J&K. The first relates to the pre-August 1947 period in which the focus of the struggle of people of the Valley was not against the British but against the Maharaja's rule. The second is the impact on the Jammu region of the land reforms implemented by the National Conference government.

Even a serious book on a serious subject recounts some humourous episodes. I found two rather amusing. 

The first cites V.P. Menon's account of the instructions given by Maharaja Hari Singh to his ADC on October 26, 1947. 

The second we have on the authority of Foreign Secretary Gundavia; it relates to a discussion in early 1964 between Nehru and his Director of Intelligence Bureau. The latter dilated on the strength of legal case against the Sheikh; what followed was a typical Nehruvian outburst: 'If a damned thing cannot be proved in four years and in six years, there's obviously nothing to be proved'."

5th Working group report has in a way demonstrated that regional bias exists-Daya Sagar

A Look Through the Mist
5th Working group report has in a way demonstrated that regional bias exists
*Daya Sagar

(*Daya Sagar is a senior  coloumnist on Jammu &Kashmir Affairs, dayasagr45@yahoo.com )

http://www.alookthroughthemist.blogspot.com/



Report of  the Working  Group headed by Retd Justice S Saghir Ahmad (constituted by Indian
Prime Minister in May 2006 ) that was presented to JK Chief Minister Omar Abdullah  at Jammu on 23rd December last year demonstrated the confusions that Justice Saghir Ahmed carried. 


Ofcourse  the WG report does not have much useful text on the subjects that related to Centre State relations .



Kashmiri over ground separatists did not participate in any of the working group meeting as well as
three Round Table Conferences chaired by Prime Minister. Chief Minister  Omar Abdullah presented the report to Prime Minister on 30 December. Omar Abdullah has still  suggested that Centre should hold dialogue with political parties on the issue of Autonomy and other issues. But  the report has failed to even settle the questions being raised by  mainstream groups like NC, PDP, BJP, JKNPP, BSP,etc. 


After having spent over two and half years the Chairman of the WG has in a way still  asked the J&K Chief Minister to study the prime referral  issues, work out road maps for the State Assembly and the Government of India  for consideration where ever deemed fit or practicable. In case the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had to do this, then , what was the Working Group doing. This way the process of constituting committees and groups would go on  till when, no one can tell this day.. 5th Working group report has in a way demonstrated that regional bias exists.



The report is full of regional divides. A separate university has been recommended for Ladakh.
A Dogri TV Channel  on the lines of Kashir Channel in Kashmir Valley has been recommended for
Jammu region. Upgradation of Government College of Engineering Jammu to the level of IIT  has been recommended . Simultaneously upgradation of NIT  Srinagar to the level of IIT has been recommended.



Have not regional considerations influenced Saghir Ahmed decisions concerning J&K? If so, then from Saghir Ahmed report atleast  message should go to Delhi that J&K needs some architecture keeping in view distinct regional needs of J&K. Before 1947 also Maharaja had managed State on similar lines.


Any how the summary of the text of the report as was disclosed through sources did demonstrate the pressures the ruling coalition government in J&K  is facing from the 3 regions of J&K in addition to the separatists.



The report has  made just passing references to  Greater Autonomy of NC, Autonomy Resolution 2000 of J&K Assembly, Self Rule of PDP and  Article 370 .There is nothing new in the report about these subjects. Only thing that could emerge is that National Conference  and PDP could use some passing references  to keep the people of Kashmir Region in illusions as regards future of centre state  relations.


In view of the non serious approach of the GOI regarding the questions raised on the accession of J&K with India  or the  talks of some conditional accession, it has to be accepted that for a common man of J&K (particularly Kashmir  valley) there is some thing still pending as regards deciding the relations between Indian and Kashmir (J&K State of Hari Singh ).


So, it was only the reference to Autonomy /Self Rule / Article 370 that did matter as regards  Kashmir Valley to those in power seat. No objections have been made from the leaders from Kashmir Valley  to the text of the report concerning  subjects like Autonomy / Self Rule / Article 370. Just reference of these subjects  for consideration has been satisfying for the Valley leaders including NC and PDP (even Congress leaders of Valley ). 


Where as even  non conclusive and half references have attracted objections from the leadership belonging to Jammu Region, Ladakh region and Kashmiri migrant Hindu. This shows that the affairs of J&K have regional orientations and Saghir Ahmed working group report too could not escape the divisive shades.


Both NC and PDP well know that neither Self Rule nor greater autonomy would be endorsed by New Delhi . But to secure some footing against the separatists  and anti 1947 Accession ideologists they have to keep  accusing  New Delhi for not being FAIR towards "THE KASHMIR". Those who call J&K a matter of political dispute of extra territorial dimensions  and hold  separatist ideologies negating the 1947 accession of J&K  had no interest in working group agenda and the report. The references on Autonomy / Self Rule / Article 370 have been totally rejected by the leaders from Jammu and Ladakh regions.


Most of the other issues that the Working Group Report has referred  to ( even beyond the scope of terms of reference ) too have only regional implications . Rather the report as it pertains to  some important issues  has gone against  all the aspirations and demands of two regions of J&K (Jammu and Ladakh regions). So it were the people from Jammu and Ladakh Regions who had some thing to react. It also appeared from the report that the local and economic issues  demanding consideration in J&K  pertained to areas that fell outside Kashmir Valley (Jammu and Ladakh Regions). 


For Kashmir Valley the Kashmiri leaders had to discuss only center state relations and nothing else. Democratic uniformity subjects like  modifying the term of JK LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY from 6  years to 5 years,


(ii) issue of REPRESENTATION/RESERVATION FOR ST,


(iii) WOMEN IN ASSEMBLY,

(iv) increasing the number of seats in the Legislative  ASSEMBLY, 


(iv)conducting regular elections to democratic bodies including Panchayats and Municipalities where ever due immediately, 


(v) return of Kashmiri migrants/ the relief / rehabilitation packages/facilitating admission of children of returning migrants in educational and training institutions in Kashmir Valley / providing  security to such families,

(vi) payment of relief to Migrants from the militancy affected areas of Jammu Region,(vii) relief/
rehabilitation / local employment  of 1947 refugees from Pakistan who mostly  settled in Jammu
region , 


(viii) implementing the  Wadhwa Committee Report, 


(ix) registration  of properties and payment of claims there of (along with compensation for the delay over 6 decades)  of  POK DPs of 1947,  


(xi)compensation to border migrants displaced as a result of conflict at international border/LOC/ Kargil , 


(xii) alleged under representation in Legislature to Jammu Region  and demand for a fresh Delimitation  by amending  29th   Constitutional Amendment , 


(xiii ) undoing the unfair treatment meted to the backward and remote area people of J&K (Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Bhaderwah, Poonch, Rajouri, Kathua, Udhampur , Kupwara belts) who  are unfairly represented in the Legislative Assembly in defiance to  the Representation of the People Act 1957 that lays down the parameters for  fair Delimitation of Assembly Seats, 


(xvi) providing reservation in services / education by State Government  to the residents of areas adjoining international border like those near  LOC, 


(xvii) references to Gajendragadkar  and Sikri Commissions  and the like issues pertained to the people living in Jammu Region only. 


These questions have nearly got no favourable recommendations/ deliberations  in the report and have caused irritation to the people more  in the Jammu Region. So one could say that the demands that were more of socio economic nature pertained more to Jammu Region and have not found  acknowledging reference in the WG report. 


The demand for Union territory status  from Ladakh has been out rightly negated in the report. Not even recommended for some more deliberations. Report says that  the unity and integrity of the State of Jammu and Kashmir can not be compromised and the Union Territory Status for Ladakh is not recommended. 


This was also a regional demand and has not found favours even for consideration where as Autonomy has found. Why did not Saghir Ahmed suggest same approach for examining  the Ladakh Union Territory Demand , could be asked.
(*Daya Sagar is a senior  coloumnist on Jammu &Kashmir Affairs, dayasagr45@yahoo.com )