Sunday, July 08, 2012

The Perils of the Interlocutor’s Report on Kashmir

Source : Organiser

INTERLOCUTORS’ REPORT IS A PRECURSOR OF GIFTING KASHMIR TO PAKISTAN—DATTATREYA HOSABALE

$img_titleFlaying the report presented by three-member interlocutor team appointed by the Central Government, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on June 1 said the move is a precursor of gifting Kashmir to Pakistan. While addressing a press conference in Nagpur’s Reshimbagh Sanghsthan organised for briefing about the Tritiya Varsh Sangh Shiksha Varg, RSS Sahsarkaryavah Shri Dattatreya Hosabale criticised the timing of the declaration of the report by the Centre.

Though the interlocutors had submitted the report much earlier, declaring this report at the time of spiraling prices and rising corruption is the deliberate and cunning attempt by the Central Government to divert people’s attention from Kashmir issue, he said.
 

A careful study of the recommendations made in this report will reveal that these recommendations exactly contradict the policies that were adopted by the Government of India till now. Demand for self-government by Mufti Mohammad’s PDP, National Conference’s demand for overall autonomy and demand for separate nation by Hurriyat groups have been approved indirectly in this report.
 

Shri Hosbale expressed utter surprise over the mention of Pak occupied Kashmir (PoK) as Pak administered one in this report by the interlocutors and raised doubt that whose language these people are speaking. He further informed that after an in-depth study of the report, the RSS would decide over its next mode of action.
(FOC)


Dustbin is the place for Kashmir interlocutors’ report


The report of the government nominated interlocutors on Kashmir mostly went along the expected lines. Except when they made atrocious suggestions which would throw the state politically back into the pre-1953 days.
 

The three interlocutors, to begin with had no locus standi on Kashmir. Two members of the three-member team were thoroughly exposed, when information came that they had accepted the hospitality and patronage of Ghulam Nabi Fai, the international lobbyist (now in US jail) for Pakistan on Kashmir. He is an ISI mole and was stationed abroad, mainly in the US to influence people and decisions in favour of Pakistan. Dileep Padgaonkar, and Radha Kumar, had been guests of Fai, the former more regular than the latter. The third member of the team was former information commissioner M.M. Ansari. He wanted to quit after the other two were exposed as Fai proteges.
 

The report by these three was put out on the Home Ministry website, a few hours after the parliament session ended. It was an obvious ploy to avoid a serious discussion in Parliament. The interlocutors claimed that they had met hundreds of people from all walks of life to come to any conclusion and suggestions on Kashmir.
 

The most unacceptable suggestion is to review all the rules and laws passed after 1952-53, the period which strengthened the position of Kashmir as part of India. After the campaign launched by the charismatic leader of Jan Sangh, Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee against the state of Jammu and Kashmir having a different emblem, flag and motto, than the Union of India, the Indian government acted to end this ‘duality.‘ Till then the chief minister of the state was called the prime minister of Kashmir. In this fight to integrate Kashmir into India irrevocably, Dr Mukherjee lost his life, in prison. Suspicions of foul play have been in the air since, not ever resolved.
 

The interlocutors want to undo this. They have suggested a return to the titles of Wazir-e-Azam and Sadar-e-Riyasat for the chief minister and governor of the state. In a most abhorrent stand, the Indian government nominees, paid from the Indian tax payers‘ money have sought to change the position of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to Pakistan Administered Jammu and Kashmir. This extends the area of Pakistani operation to Jammu and ‘occupation‘ has become administration. How very smooth! It contradicts the sentiment of the Indian parliament, which in a 1994 resolution promised to win back the territories occupied by Pakistan.
 

The report glosses over the prevailing extremist communal atmosphere in the state, as dictated by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists which prevents Hindus and Sikhs from going back to their homes. It has no solutions to offer on ending terrorism in the valley. On the other hand, the report promotes ‘separateness‘ of the Kashmiris from the others. Kashmiriat is an old, cliched, meaningless expression, which is being flaunted whenever there is talk of diluting such laws as Article 370, which keep the state a sore thumb of the Indian Union.
 

The BJP and the RSS have wholly rejected the report and rightly so. The BJP, which took note of this report during the National Executive meeting in Mumbai passed a resolution condemning and damning the report. It highlighted six points in the report which made it absolutely unacceptable. The interlocutors have suggested that Article 370 should be made permanent.
 

The interlocutors’ report comes at a time when there are rumours that the UPA government is working on a secret agreement with Pakistan on withdrawing troops from Siachen, that it is mulling over the proposal to cut back troops in Kashmir and under pressure from state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is planning to open free movement across the LoC, especially between PoK and Kashmir.
 

The state government too is doing its bit to bring Pakistan closer to Kashmir. The Chief Minister holds his cabinet meeting at LoC and kow-tows to the terrorists on the duration of the Amarnath Yatra.
The report of the interlocutors should be confined to the dustbin because the motive and commitment of at least two of its members are suspect. The team, to begin with, had no political sanction. The members were selected by the government probably because of their Fai-Pakistan connections. Kashmir is not a game for experimenting. There is but one way forward on Kashmir. And that is to integrate it fully into the Indian Union, by removing Article 370 and other special privileges bestowed upon it.


Saturday, July 07, 2012

Protest Against JK Interlocutors' Report

Voice your protest directly against the Government of Bharat appointed Interlocutors report that will fragment the nation.

Interlocutors report: A beginning of another divide?

The home ministry of the government of Bharat constituted a 3-member interlocutors group on 13 October 2010 to find a solution to the Jammu-Kashmir issue. The interlocutors submitted their report on 12 October 2011. The home ministry after suppressing the report for 7 months made it public only on 24 May 2012.

Prima facie the report is not only objectionable but highly damaging to the unity, integrity and sovereignty of the nation. In a way the demands of the separatists have been given official sanction through this report.

In fact when it was revealed that two of the three interlocutors had participated in Anti-Bharat seminars upon the invitation accorded to them by ISI agent Dr.Ghulam Muhammad Fai, questions were raised on the intentions of the interlocutors group.

The report submitted by the group of Interlocutors on Jammu-Kashmir constituted by the central government does not portray the suggestionsthat emerged by talking to people from diverse sections of the society.In effect this report,which is in the name of unanimity among all the stake holders and citizens, is actually a favorable report prepared as per the demandsof the state and central governments. In fact the report addressesfistful of those separatists who were born out ofwanton and knee-jerk policies of the central government. The basis of such policies is the false beliefs that have been nurtured by them for the last 64 years.

The previous session of the parliament ended only some time ago. If the government was really keen on a debate on the recommendations of the interlocutors, it could have presented it in the parliament. But it seems that the government’s intent is to enforce the report through the back door. If it is indeed so, it should understand that it is playing with fire.

The interlocutors report is a bundle of contradictions and a part of the international conspiracy to separate Jammu-Kashmir from the rest of nation. Any kind of debate is not possible on this anti-national document.This report should be rejected in its totality and it is absolutely necessary to directly challenge this trend.

By reading the following recommendations made by the Interlocutors, one can realize what their intentions are and where doestheir loyalty lie.

Recommendations of Interlocutors and answers of nationalists

  •  Retain the Article 370 as it asserts the unique status of the state. Delete the word ‘Temporary’ from the heading of Article 370 and replace it with theword ‘Special’

This is the only Article of the constitution which the makers of the constitution added for a limited period of time. Sheikh Abdullah himself was a member of the constituent assembly and had signed for this provision thus giving it his approval.

Promptly ensure that movement of people, goods and services across the LOC and international border is free from any hindrances. For this constitute a combined committee of advisors or a united organization from both sides of the border which will plan for the development of the whole region.

To ensure that this be done, it is not only required to take the consent of the separatists groups in Bharat but also the consent of so-called Azad Jammu-Kashmir government and governments of Pakistan and China. Given the circumstances today this is nothing but mere speculation.

The above recommendation also means that Bharat abandon its position, of 6 decades, on Jammu-Kashmir that it is an internal matter and accept the sovereignty of so-called Azad Jammu-Kashmir government, Pakistan and China respectively and forsake its claim. The interlocutors have recognized the sovereignty of Pakistan over illegally occupied territories by mentioning it as Pakistan Administered Areas (PAK) throughout the report instead of mentioning as Pakistan Occupied Territory (POK).

  •   Considering the Nehru-Sheikh accord of 1952 as the foundation, a constitutional committee should be established to review all Central Actsand Articles of the Constitution of Bharat extended to the State of Jammu and Kashmir and any such laws that breach the autonomy granted to the state under article 370 should be withdrawn.

The truth is that the Article 370 is a mere a procedural mechanism that does not guarantee any autonomy to the state. Moreover, the laws that are applicable to Jammu-Kashmir under this mechanism are alsoin forcein other parts of the country. If the same laws are for the welfare of 120 crore Bharatiyas, how can it be against the welfare of 1 crore 20 lakh people of Jammu-Kashmir. It is notable here that in 1952 Sheikh.

Friday, July 06, 2012

News Reports of Dharna at Indira Park and Seminar At Sundarayya Vignana Kendra, Hyderabad







BJP rejects Kashmir interlocutors' report

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nirmala Sitaraman called the Jammu & Kashmir interlocutors' report being published on a website just 36 hours after the conclusion of the budget session of Parliament as UPA II's "backdoor exposure" of a sensitive report.
 
"We'd have appreciated if it were to be first made available in Parliament," she said addressing media on the first day of the BJP's national executive meet in Mumbai on Thursday.

This report is in complete denial of the hard realities in J&K, she said. "The report dilutes the issue of Pak-sponsored terrorism, sidesteps discriminatory regional imbalances, does not address the safety and security of Kashmiri Pandits and Sikhs who have fled the state, suggestion of POK as PAK (Pak-administered Kashmir) and substitution of the word 'temporary' with 'special' in relation to Article 370," Sitaraman said.

"The BJP completely rejects every aspect of this report and condemns some suggestions," she said categorically.
The interlocutors' report will not help in the integration of J&K into India, she said. The proposal to review all laws passed by the Indian Parliament after 1952 in relation to the state is a sinister ploy, she said.
She said that the BJP considers the provisions of Article 370 as a "psychological barrier" for the physical and psychological integration of J&K into India.

Noted journalist Dileep Padgaonkar and academicians MM Ansari and Radha Kumar are the three interlocutors who have made the report after prolonged discussions with the people of J&K.

When asked if this was a UPA ploy to divert the attention of away from the shocking petrol price hike, Sitaraman said she wouldn't even want to think if this was the case given the emotiveness and sensitivity attached to the subject.

Kashmir interlocutors' report ambiguous: Rajnath Singh

The report of the central government's interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir was "ambiguous" but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not rejected it, senior party leader Rajnath Singh said here Friday.

"We do not reject the interlocutors' report outright although the report is ambiguous," said Rajnath Singh, who is heading a BJP study group on Jammu and Kashmir.

"The study group will take stock of the situation so that we prepare a comprehensive report to resolve the outstanding issues of the state," he said.

"This is our fifth visit to Jammu and Kashmir. So far, we have met 70-80 delegations belonging to Jammu, the Kashmir Valley and the Ladakh region. It is our stand that the problems of the people here should be resolved within the limits of 'Insaaf and Insaniyat' as our leader, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji has stated in the past," he said.

Rajnath Singh said the BJP study group had not sent invitations to anybody although it was prepared to meet anybody who called on it.

Responding to a question regarding the partial rollback of Rs.1.60 per litre in petrol prices, he said, "There is a Hindi proverb which says 'Oonth kay muh mein zaffran' (saffron in camel's mouth). The rollback is too little."

The report of the three interlocutors -- senior journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, academician Radha Kumar, and former information commissioner M.M. Ansari -- has been put up on the home ministry website to invite public opinion.

The panel has ruled out a return to the pre-1953 position and recommended setting up of a constitutional committee (CC) to review all central acts and articles of the constitution of India, extended to the state after the signing of the 1952 Agreement.

According to the report, the government should have a future-oriented approach taking into account the strategic, political, economic and cultural changes in Jammu and Kashmir, India and the South Asia region.

Kashmir interlocutor report will mean disaster: Swamy

Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy today said the interlocutors report on Jammu and Kashmir has several prescriptions that mean a disaster for national unity. 

"There is nothing to discuss for the government to discuss in this report since it prescribes weakening and deleting any provisions in the Indian Constitution that strengthens national unity and proposing that would set Balkanisation of India," he said in a statement.

Contending that there is no such thing as "special status" for Jammu and Kashmir, Swamy said the interlocutors is for "mischief and thus should be thrown into waste paper basket."

JK interlocutors' report diluted India's stand on PoK: BJP

BJP today said the Centre's interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir has diluted India's stand on Pakistan Occupied Kashmir by changing the nomenclature to Pakistan Administered Kashmir in their report. 

"They (JK interlocutors) have diluted the India's stand on Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) by changing its nomenclature as PAK (Pakistan Administrated Kashmir) in their report," state BJP Secretary Vibodh Gupta told a public meeting in Manjakote belt of Rajouri district.

Terming Interlocutors report as a "big fraud", he alleged, "The report has been prepared on the direction of Central government...It has not mentioned anything about the delimitation, raised by several political parties in Jammu." 

 Gupta alleged the report has totally ignored Poonch and Rajouri and did not even mention about the migrants of the region.
Terming abrogation of article 370, which gives special status to JK, as the best solution to curb the burning problem of unemployment, he said it will bring business houses in the state and generate large chunk of employment.