Kashmir Issue is Not Aam Baat

PRASHANT  BHUSHAN, LEADER, AAP

YASIN MALIK, CHAIRMAN, JKLF

UMAR ABDULLAH, CM, J&K

Governance is not the other name of politics of agitation.  It is hardly 10 days when the Aam Admi Party formed government in Delhi and it has decided to embark on national politics by deciding not only to contest the Lok Sabha elections but also to project Arvind Kejriwal as the Party’s Prime Ministerial Candidate. For record, Kejriwal has said that he will not contest Lok Sabha elections. But the AAP, seems to be in a hurry to take the centre stage of Indian politics.

Driven by the success and favourable response of the people on ‘fighting corruption’ Prashant Bhushan, a senior leader of the Aam Admi Party has asked for a referendum in Jammu & Kashmir on the issue of deployment of Armed forces in the troubled state; a plebiscite. Such statement will only reinforce the cry of the pro-Pakistan separatists in the valley who have been demanding and agitating against the presence of the Armed forces in the valley. The National Conference chef minister Omar Abdullah, in fact, is fighting for the repeal of AFSA- the Armed Forces Special Power Act in Jammu & Kashmir.

 Prashant Bhusan’s statement will also give a boost to the Pakistani rulers to further indulge in anti-India propaganda of human rights violations in Kashmir by the Indian Armed Forces. Mr. Prashant Bhushan, may I ask you if you and your Party would strike alliance with the separatist leaders of the Hurriyat Conference. Or is it that the Aam Admi Party is greatly influenced by Washington?

One can safely assume that an eminent lawyer, social activist and now a politician, Prashant Bhsuhan is not aware of ground realities in Jammu and Kashmir or he does not know the role of Pakistan in fomenting trouble and encouraging anti-national elements in the valley by supplying arms, ammunition and providing funds to create trouble in the state.

More than 10,000 jawans and officers of the Indian Army and other para-military forces have laid their lives fighting militants and separatists in the valley. Does the Aam Admi Party want to say that the sacrifice of our men has no relevance in so far as it serves the populism of Arvind Kejriwal and his fellow travelers. Fighting corruption in Delhi Jal Board is one thing and handling national issues like territorial integrity of the country is entirely different thing.

What is surprising is the muted reaction of the Congress Party and its leaders on Kashmir issue. The Congress can go to any extent even comprising on national security if a policy serves its interests of keeping the BJP away from power. I wrote in my earlier blog that there is a tacit understanding between the Congress and the Aam Admi Party in Delhi elections to hit the BJP. The statements and election speeches of Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders against the Congress and its then chief minister Shiela Dixit was just a cover to keep the impression afloat that the AAP was fighting the Congress as well.

Although Kejrival has tried to distance himself from the Kashmir statement of Prashant Bhushan, the chief minister has not made the stand of his Party clear on the trouble in J & K nor has the Aam Admi Party spelt its policy on Pakistan.

As of now, Kejriwal and his team are up to contest Lok Sabha elections so that they may help the Congress’ political agenda of keeping the BJP under check in getting absolute majority in the Lok Sabha and form the government with Narendra Modi as next Prime Minister of the country.

~R. K. Sinha