SRINAGAR: A day after senior Congress leader and former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said centre’s Kashmir policy was “misguided”, senior BP leader and Union MoS PMO Dr Jitendra Singh blamed Congress for the present mess in Valley and said the Modi government’s policy was based on consistency, clarity and conviction.
“We need to remind him (Chidambaram) that the kind of situation we are facing today in Kashmir is accumulative outcome of acts of omissions and commissions committed by his party Congress, which ruled J&K and country for 50 years after independence,” Singh told reporters on sidelines of a first-ever BJP’s working committee meeting at SKICC, here.
Reacting to Chidambaram’s statement that Modi’s Kashmir policy was “misguided” and “Azadi” demand in Kashmir is for autonomy, he said, “I don’t think nation allows former home minister the privilege to deliver sermons on his own acts of omissions and commissions.”
He said for the first time, whole world and nation, accepts that Modi government’s Kashmir policy is based on consistency, commitment, conviction and clarity.
“It is not based on any experimentation, which was committed by the successive Congress government and which led to mess in Kashmir,” the union minister said adding, “It is for him (Chidambaram) to answer why Kashmir was led to such a pass.”
Singh said the government was trying to clear mess and redeem the undoing of successive Congress governments, which began right from dawn of independence with the infamous “Nehruvian blunders”.
On appointment of interlocutor on Kashmir, he said, “The interlocutor has been given the authority to talk to everyone. It depends on him with whom to talk and how he wants to talk”.
Asked whether the talks would be held with militants, the minister said, “It will be decided by the interlocutor. He will decide with whom to talk and when to talk and where to talk.”
In response to a question whether Hurriyat leaders would be invited for talks, Singh said, “The special representative has been authorized to carry forward the sustained dialogue.”
“The Home Minister has already stated that the interlocutor has the mandate to decide whom to talk and whom not to talk, when to talk and when not to talk and how much to talk and how much not to talk,” he said.
On the first ever party’s state working committee meeting in Srinagar, Singh said, “Today’s event is landmark event not only because BJP is holding working committee meeting in Srinagar but also because the party is a truly democratic party and the only party which does not follow rule of dynasty and family lineage. The party has made its presence felt in Kashmir,” he said.
All top State BJP leaders attended the working committee meeting, which would continue tomorrow also.
Meanwhile, State BJP president Sat Pal Sharma while addressing the working committee said NIA raids have broken the backbone of Hurriyat.
“The peace that we see in Kashmir these days is outcome of these raids. After the killing of Burhan Wani last year things were looking challenging in Kashmir but by efforts of Central government and State government, we have come out of that trouble and restored peace to a large extent. We are now on path of development,” he said.
The BJP working committee passed a resolution demanding conferment of Bharat Ratna on Maqbool Sherwani, who stopped Pakistani tribal raiders from reaching Srinagar in 1947.
He was later killed by the Pakistani tribal raiders.