Srinagar: All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary G A Mir on Sunday questioned the delay in restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, saying the Centre has yet to fulfil its commitment.
Former J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina, however, maintained that the Centre would honour its commitment to restore statehood to J&K and asserted that his party was also in favour of the restoration.
Participating in the fifth ‘Halla Bolle’ conclave organised by a news portal here, Mir and Raina put forth their respective views amid concerns raised by participants over the handling of Jammu and Kashmir situation by the BJP-led Central government.
Responding to the concerns, Raina maintained that the Centre would honour its commitment to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
He, however, sought to highlight the significant change in the overall security situation in the Union Territory since the August 2019 developments, saying people can now travel freely across Jammu and Kashmir without facing the frequent checks and restrictions that were common earlier.
Referring to the June 24, 2024 all-party meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mir said political parties had contested the subsequent elections on the basis of Modi’s assurance that after elections the Centre would engage with elected representatives and restore statehood “as early as possible”.
“This is a gentleman’s word. This is the word of the Prime Minister of India,” he said, pointing out that two years had since passed but statehood was not restored till date.
Mir, who is also member of J&K Legislative Assembly, alleged that Jammu and Kashmir is faced with dual power centres in the absence of the statehood which is badly affecting the governance and addressing the problems being faced by the people on various fronts.
“I do not agree with the BJP leader (Raina) who claimed that the J&K Government is powerful enough to take its own decisions…the dual power centre is not only delaying administrative decisions but also affecting the people.
“Files and proposals are moving from one office to another, creating unnecessary delays and leaving the administration without the authority to take timely decisions. Ultimately, it is the people who are suffering because of this uncertainty,” the Congress leader said.
Advocating restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest, he said there should be a single, accountable government so that responsibility can be fixed.
“The government should not be able to say this was not within my power,” he said.
He also alleged that the BJP government at the Centre is not treating J&K at par with other parts of the country.
“Delhi does not treat this region in the same way as it treats other parts of the country while the Congress has always looked at the 140 crore people of the country equally,” he said.
Referring to Ladakh, he said the good thing about the people there is that they keep politics aside and come together to safeguard their interests. “Unfortunately, that has not happened in Jammu and Kashmir, especially in the valley.”
Earlier, BJP leader Raina assured the people that Jammu and Kashmir will get statehood as promised by the Central government as “we are also in favour of its restoration”.
“I do not agree with the notion that the J&K chief minister is powerless. This is a wrong narrative. The chief minister has financial powers, budgetary powers and all the necessary platforms and authority to run the government. The elected government has the powers required to take decisions and address the concerns of the people,” he said.
Raina said the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir had improved significantly since August 2019, allowing people to travel freely across the UT without facing the repeated stops, checks and questioning that were common earlier.
He also pointed to the changed security environment by saying that people could stay out late, including watching cricket matches that continued until the early hours, without facing restrictions or security-related interruptions.
Raina, however, faced some tough questions from several participants, who challenged his assertion that the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir had improved significantly.
Some participants appeared unconvinced by his assessment and questioned whether the situation on the ground had changed to the extent being claimed by the BJP leader.
NC diluting statehood mandate, says Ruhullah
Srinagar: Estranged National Conference (NC) MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi on Sunday slammed his party’s government in Jammu and
Kashmir for allegedly bringing the struggle for the people’s rights down to statehood, asserting that it was “betrayal” of the mandate.
Speaking at the 5th Halla Bolle conclave here, Mehdi alleged that the NC has not even started the fight for restoring the constitutional rights of the people that were revoked on August 5, 2019.
Hitting out at the NC leadership, he said he has “countless” ideological differences with the RSS, but one thing worth learning from them is that they work toward their “flawed objectives with the discipline of a movement”.
“The 2024 assembly mandate had granted a categorical authority to NC that you must leave everything else aside…the people told us to fulfil our responsibility and fight the battle for our identity and our constitutional rights. For that, they entrusted us with a mandate, a categorical mandate was given as a trust,” he said.
The Srinagar MP said people across the country were fighting the BJP-led Centre over several issues like CAA, farmers’ issues, exam paper leaks and even deletion of names from electoral rolls.
“Everyone is fighting their battles. And the one who had the biggest fight to wage, who was supposed to fight most aggressively — of course within peaceful means — that very National Conference, after receiving the mandate, is making excuses not to fight it,” he said.
Referring to Ladakh and its political fight, Mehdi said J&K was more empowered than its erstwhile region.
“Ladakh fought against the BJP, brought the BJP to the negotiation table. However, in two years, we looked for every possible excuse as to why the battle shouldn’t be fought,” he added.
Pointing to the resolution passed by the Assembly in its recent autumn session that urged the Centre to urgently restore full statehood, Mehdi said the resolution had diluted the fight.
“They diluted their own resolution. Instead of fighting the battle, excuses were crafted not to fight. That very resolution was diluted to say, ‘We only want statehood’,” he said, referring to earlier resolution passed by the Assembly over special status restoration.
He asserted that bringing the fight down to statehood was “shifting the goalposts”.
“You were given a mandate to raise the goalpost, not to downgrade it,” he said, adding the Assembly and the chief minister “kept diluting the fight rather than starting it”.
Mehdi said he believes that the BJP government at the Centre would not restore statehood, but if it does, it would be a “humiliation” for the NC.
“If statehood is granted, it will be a humiliation for a grand organization and movement like the National Conference. The sole reason for whose existence was autonomy for this state. And if that pro-autonomy party, that force, trades autonomy for statehood, that is a humiliation,” he said.
He added that it would be a “compromise and a betrayal”.
