New Delhi, 13 Feb: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Member of Parliament (Retd) Justice Hasnain Masoodi on Saturday impressed upon the government of India to respect the democratic aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir by realizing the ground realities.
Expressing concern over the discrimination being meted out to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Party’s Member of Parliament Hassnain Masoodi said that there can be no trade-off between the peoples’ political aspirations and development.
He said that various states enjoy special provisions; there is a common thread between these special provisions in terms of respecting the political aspirations of the people. “It was the special provision to Jammu and Kashmir in the shape of Articles 370, 35-A that was sore in the eye of the ruling BJP. There are states within the union of India, in particular the north eastern ones, which have been provided with far more stronger constitutional safeguards. Even the Prime minister of the country cannot buy land there. The degree of autonomy the state of Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed, was far less than the one being enjoyed by the various north eastern states, where no citizen of the country can visit without acquiring an inner line permit, a perquisite document issued by the concerned state government to allow inward travel of an Indian citizen into those areas for a limited period. It is obligatory for Indian citizens from outside those states to obtain a permit for entering into the protected state. What the present government is doing in the north east has stripped the degree of autonomy enjoyed by J&k. Why is BJP unconcerned about “one nation, one law” when it comes to the north east; why is J&K only being discriminated against? When it comes to J&K why is a different yardstick employed by the GOI? Are our people less of mortals; even today a Kashmir Engineer Bashir Ahmed Zargar lost his life in the line of duty in Uttarakhand. Why are different standards being employed by GOI in its dealing with the people of Kashmir, such disposition reek of inequity,” he said.
He cautioned the GOI against widening the gulf between Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the country and said that the people of J&K have always stood with the country and that it was the ruling BJP which was pushing them away. He said the GOI’s policy towards Jammu and Kashmir must encapsulate all dimensions with peace building efforts at the heart of it.
Necessitating on the actualization of political aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, he said the unilateral measures undertaken by the GOI should be repealed. The GOI should without any further holdup repeal all the constitutionally suspect laws, ordinances, notifications with regard to Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
