NEW DELHI, Sept 19: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday told voters in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi that Pakistan was “celebrating” the manifestos published by Congress and Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC).
He said Pakistan’s defence minister had backed the manifestos. “Pakistan’s agenda is Congress-NC agenda. Pakistan Defence Minister has supported Congress-NC manifesto and Pakistan is celebrating NC-Congress manifesto,” PM Modi warned voters at the rally in Katra area.
“(We) will not allow Pakistan’s agenda in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan Defence Minister said Congress’s agenda on Article 35 is Pakistan’s agenda,” PM Modi said.
Khawaja Asif, Pakistan’s Defence Minister had stated that there was a “high chance” the Congress-National Conference alliance could win the Assembly elections and come to power in Jammu and Kashmir. “They (the alliance) have made it an election issue. Pakistan and the National Conference-Congress alliance are on the same page in Jammu and Kashmir to restore Article 370 and 35A,” Asif said.
The NC manifesto promised bringing back Article 370, which gave special privileges to the erstwhile state. The Congress manifesto, on the other hand, was silent on special status, but guaranteed restoring full statehood.
On August 5, 2019, the government announced in Parliament the nullification of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir with an Assembly and Ladakh without one.
The government back then said J&K’s statehood would be restored at an appropriate time, an assertion that has been repeated by Union ministers time and again. Recently, at a rally in J&K, Home Minister Amit Shah stressed that the government was committed to restoring J&K statehood after the elections. He said only the Centre could restore J&K’s statehood, asking voters not to be misled by the Opposition’s narrative.
After Asif made the statement, the BJP has used the incident to target Jammu and Kashmir and claim that the Congress’ interests were ‘inimical’ to Indian interests. “Pakistan, a terrorist state, endorses Congress and National Conference’s position on Kashmir. How is it that, from (Gurpatwant) Pannun to Pakistan, Rahul Gandhi and his Congress are always seen on the side of those inimical to India’s interest?” the party’s spokesperson Amit Malviya said in a social media post.
Mr Modi had also criticized Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s recent remarks about ‘devta’ at an event in the US, accusing the Congress of displaying a “Naxal mindset” imported from other religions and countries. Rahul Gandhi, during his US visit, had explained that ‘devta’ in India means a person whose internal and external expressions align.
“Devta in India means a person whose internal feelings are the same as his external expression, meaning he is a completely transparent being, it does not mean God. If a person tells me everything he believes or thinks and expresses it openly, that’s the definition of a Devta…What’s interesting about our politics is how do you suppress your ideas, how do you suppress your fears, greed, or ambitions and observe other people’s fears and ambitions,” he had said.
(Manas Dasgupta)