NEW DELHI: Union minister Jitendra Singh asked the Congress and the National Conference (NC) on Monday to explain to the people of the Jammu region whether they endorsed the Gupkar resolution to restore Article 370 of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir.
He said the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) will spell the doom for the Congress not only in Jammu and Kashmir, but across the country.
The PAGD is an amalgam of various political parties of Jammu and Kashmir, including the NC.
It has sought the restoration of Article 370, which gave a special status to the erstwhile state.
Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, accused these political parties of not only physical discrimination against the Jammu region, but also leading psychological warfare, resulting in mental enslavement of the people of the area.
He said for the first time, people in every region of Jammu and Kashmir have begun to experience the feeling of being equal citizens and not being subservient to any other region.
"The Congress party and the National Conference should explain to the people of the Jammu region whether they endorsed the Gupkar resolution to restore Article 370," the minister told PTI.
He said both the NC and the Congress are today crying hoarse for the honour of the Dogras, whereas these two parties are precisely responsible for having perpetually compromised the Dogra pride.
He accused the two parties of not only unleashing oppression against the Dogras but also putting behind bars the "tallest Dogra of our times, Pandit Prem Nath Dogra".
Singh said the Congress and the NC are trying to sell the name of Maharaja Hari Singh to the new generation of Jammuites who, they think, may not be fully abreast with history.
"But it is on record that the Congress led by Jawaharlal Nehru and the National Conference led by Sheikh Abdullah were responsible for the humiliating ouster and banishment of Maharaja Hari Singh," he said.
"The politically expedient opposition leaders have conveniently come to the conclusion that the Dogras of Jammu do not read their own history and can, therefore, be easily manipulated by opportunistic rhetoric," Singh, the Lok Sabha member from Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur constituency, said.