The BJD and BSP extended their support to the stripping down of Article 370 in the Parliament yesterday when Home Minister Amit Shah put up a proposal to dilute the discriminatory provision in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. However, now support seems to be trickling down from unexpected quarters.
Senior Congress leader Deepender Hooda extended his support to stripping down of Article 370 saying that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and such a move will be beneficial to Kashmiris.
मेरा पहले से ये विचार रहा है कि 21वी सदी मे अनुच्छेद 370 का औचित्य नही है और इसको हटना चाहिये।ऐसा देश की अखण्डता व जम्मू-कश्मीर की जनता जो हमारे देश का अभिन्न अंग है के हित मे भी है।
मगर पूर्णत: मौजूदा सरकार की ज़िम्मेदारी है की इस का क्रियान्वरण शांति व विश्वास के वातावरण मे हो pic.twitter.com/6A7i1l5KNn— Deepender S Hooda (@DeependerSHooda) August 5, 2019
Of course, his support came with riders that such a move should have been made by taking other political parties into confidence.
Congress’ chief whip Bhubaneswar Kalita resigned from Rajya Sabha yesterday because he was upset over Congress’ stand to oppose Centre’s move to dilute Article 370. He stated that Congress’ stand on this issue was “against the people’s feelings” and that the party seemed “ hell-bent on political suicide.”
Another senior Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi, a close aide of former Congress President and currently UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, too went against the party’s stand and welcomed the move.
#WATCH Janardan Dwivedi, Congress on #Article370revoked : My political guru Ram Manohar Lohia ji was always against this Article. A mistake of history has been corrected today, albeit late. I welcome this. pic.twitter.com/KqBsROImgS
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2019
“This is an old provision and many freedom fighters did not want this article to stay. On a personal level, my political mentor Ram Manohar Lohia was always against Article 370. Hence, as far as my personal views go, this is a matter of national satisfaction. A mistake which happened during the partition, that has been corrected, even if it took time. I welcome this,” said Dwivedi.
Congress’ Rae Bareli MLA Aditi Singh, too, welcomed the move.
United we stand!
Jai Hind#Article370— Aditi Singh (@AditiSinghINC) August 5, 2019
When a Twitter user pointed out that she is a Congress leader, she responded by saying that she is an Indian.
Main ek Hindustani hoon
— Aditi Singh (@AditiSinghINC) August 5, 2019
Another Congress leader Milind Deora, while didn’t give explicit support to stripping down of Article 370, he got a lot of flak for saying that the does hope that diluting Article 370 plays out more favourably for Jammu & Kashmir.
Abolishing Article 370 of the Indian Constitution could well be dubbed Modi Sarkar 2.0’s demonetisation moment.
For the sake of peace & development in Jammu & Kashmir, I hope this decision plays out more favourably than demonetisation did
— Milind Deora मिलिंद देवरा (@milinddeora) August 5, 2019
Apparently, asking for a debate on the issue and hoping that the government’s move works out in favour of people of Jammu and Kashmir is ‘abandoning liberalism’.
What’s unprincipled about debating what’s best for India’s sovereignty & federalism, peace in J&K, jobs for Kashmiri youth & justice for Kashmiri Pandits? https://t.co/Ysz7BwXnlL
— Milind Deora मिलिंद देवरा (@milinddeora) August 5, 2019
Amidst all this, there has been a stunned silence from former Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his sister and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The brother-sister duo which is quite quick with using memes and Snapchat-generation inspired sarcasm, have oddly remained silent when India corrected a historical wrong. This, when they claim to be proud Kashmiris. This, especially when stripping down the Article 370 rectifies the Himalayan blunder their own great grandfather and former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had committed.
