Srinagar, July 17 (IANS). All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Ghulam Ahmed Mir, while reiterating the demand for restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, targeted the central government on several issues. He said that Congress has been continuously in favor of restoration of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir.
Ghulam Ahmed Mir, in a special conversation with IANS, said that to understand the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir, one has to start from the decision of August 5, 2019. Parliament definitely has the right to make laws, but the people of the area for which such big decisions were being taken were not taken into confidence. Congress has continuously raised the demand for restoration of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir inside and outside the Parliament. The party has also had a clear policy in various AICC conferences that the injustice done to the people of Jammu and Kashmir should be removed and they should get their state back.
Mir said that in the year 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called the leaders of various political parties of Jammu and Kashmir and held a meeting. In that meeting, most of the leaders had first demanded restoration of statehood and then holding elections. However, the Prime Minister had said that first delimitation would happen, then elections would be held and then statehood would be restored. He alleged that if there were no instructions from the Supreme Court, the assembly elections would not have been conducted on time. After the elections, the National Conference emerged as the largest party and formed the government, but the Center took no initiative towards fulfilling its promise of restoring statehood.
Ghulam Ahmed Mir said that Congress wanted from the beginning that immediately after the formation of the government, all the political parties should go to Delhi and put pressure on the Central Government to restore the statehood. If this initiative had been taken in the beginning, perhaps the situation would have been different today. Despite having the opportunity to share power, Congress decided not to join the government and chose the path of raising the voice of the people.
Last year, Congress had called for a march to Jantar Mantar to raise the voice of people of all sections and regions of Jammu and Kashmir. Now the National Conference has invited all the parties to come together. Political parties should forget their differences and unite on the issue of statehood. Congress State President Tariq Hameed Karra and he has received the invitation. The party will soon clarify its official stand. He indicated that Congress may join this initiative in the public interest.
On the issue of women’s reservation and delimitation, Ghulam Ahmed Mir said that the initiative to give 33 percent reservation to women was taken by Congress and especially Sonia Gandhi. Due to the coalition government during the Congress rule, it could not be implemented, but even after the formation of the BJP government, the Congress continued to pressurize to bring this bill. Congress always said that if the government brings the bill, the opposition will support it, but when the government brought the bill, a provision was added in it that first census would be done, then delimitation would be done and after that women’s reservation would be implemented.
Mir said that Congress had also raised the question whether reservation can be implemented immediately on the basis of existing 543 Lok Sabha seats. In future, if seats increase after census and delimitation, then the representation of women will also automatically increase. He alleged that now the government is again trying to link women’s reservation with delimitation, whereas the country does not support it. The experiences of delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir and Assam show that the balance of administrative units and assembly constituencies has been disturbed. The administrative system of many assembly constituencies has been affected due to delimitation without taking the local people into confidence and this is the reason why Congress is raising questions on this process.
Mir alleged that the BJP’s aim was to weaken the opposition. He said that the government wants to strengthen its position in Parliament through divisions in opposition parties and political horse-trading so that it can easily pursue its political strategy in the future. Ultimately it will have to be decided by the MPs whether they keep the promises made to their voters or not.
Clarifying Congress’s stand on the Vande Mataram Bill proposed in Parliament, Ghulam Ahmed Mir said that Congress has never been against Vande Mataram. He said that it is a national song and it has been sung even in the Congress sessions. However, historically there had been objections from Muslim scholars on some words and some parts, hence it was never made mandatory. The spirit of democracy is that the national song should be respected, but it should not be forced to be sung. The central government is trying to impose its ideology essentially on many issues and the country should consider this seriously.
On the question of alleged internal tussle in Punjab Congress, Ghulam Ahmed Mir said that Congress is perhaps the only party in the country where internal democracy is alive and leaders can express their views openly. The party leadership has decided that Amarinder Singh Raja Warding will continue as the Punjab Congress President. Besides, a system of collective leadership has been created by giving various responsibilities to senior leaders.
Mir said that Congress’s entire focus is on winning back the trust of the people in Punjab. The situation of law and order, drugs and administrative system of Punjab has deteriorated under the rule of Aam Aadmi Party. Congress, not BJP, is the next strong political option in Punjab and the party will contest the next assembly elections under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
On Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s statement in which he targeted Congress and Samajwadi Party while talking about demographic change, Ghulam Ahmed Mir said that BJP’s politics revolves around issues like Hindu-Muslim, India-Pakistan and Temple-Mosque. He alleged that BJP is trying to divide the country on religious lines, whereas India is known for its diversity, many languages, different religions and social brotherhood. He said that respect for all religions and communities is India’s biggest strength and there is a need to maintain this feeling.
–IANS
PSK/VC
