NC Holds Protests Across the Valley. Nasir leads protest march in Srinagar.
Srinagar: National Conference, while taking strong exception to remarks by a BJP Leader and Minister of State in the recently sworn in Government in Delhi as well as RSS-BJP meetings on the Article 370 issue, has said that the party won’t allow anyone to toy around with Article 370 and will continue to defend Article 370 just like the party has safeguarded the State’s Special Status since 1947. According to a statement issued to KNS, NC Provincial President Nasir Aslam Wani has said that the people of J&K should rest assured that National Conference continues to stand strongly in defense of their aspirations and special identity and would not allow vested interests to fiddle with Article 370 for their own ideological and divisive ends.
National Conference today held protests at all District Headquarters across the Valley to protest against the recent provocative statements and posturing on Article 370. NC Provincial President Kashmir Nasir Aslam Wani held a protest march in Srinagar against the statements by BJP Leaders on Article 370. Speaking to Party Workers and Activists, Nasir Aslam Wani said that National Conference will not allow any force on earth to harm Article 370 and dilute the State’s Special Status.
Wani lashed out at those entities within the State who are out to barter the dignity and sentiments of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and said that National Conference would give these internal foes a befitting reply based on the trust and faith of the people of our State. “We have been repeatedly highlighting a nexus between certain quarters within J&K and a lobby in New Delhi and these recent remarks about a lobby in Delhi being in touch with some alleged, self-proclaimed stakeholders in J&K vindicate and validate our apprehensions” Nasir said.
He said that the State’s Special Status is non-negotiable and formed the only constitutional and legal bridge of accession between J&K and the rest of the country. “The remarks made by Dr. Jitendra Singh and Ram Madhav are utterly condemnable and provocative and National Conference demands that these inflammable remarks about Article 370 be checked and clarified to prevent any sort of conflagration in the State. To add to the melee, there have been open and brazen official statements about Article 370 coming from the BJP top-brass. While National Conference is ready to defend Article 370 legally, politically and constitutionally – such statements “, Nasir said.
While having welcomed the initiative of renewed bilateral talks between India and Pakistan, National Conference has said that such positive developments get overshadowed in the hearts and minds of the people of J&K through provocative and confrontational remarks that negate the sentimentality and sensitivities of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. “The timing of these remarks about Article 370 is extremely unfortunate and counterproductive in the context of bilateral talks between India and Pakistan. Whether these remarks are personal opinions or the official stated positions of the NDA Government is something that needs to be clarified to the Government and people of J&K by the Prime Minister of India in an unambiguous and effective manner. These remarks have created a sense of uncertainty and anxiety within the State and that perception needs to be addressed without any delay”, Nasir said
The National Conference Provincial President has said that NC is not unnerved by such provocations and misleading remarks. “NC has rendered innumerable sacrifices, both in terms of the ultimate sacrifices of lives and in terms of power to safeguard J&K’s special status. NC has been a custodian of the aspirations and identity of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the party will continue to stand up and oppose all attempts to trivialize and undermine our constitutional special status in the future”, Nasir Wani said.
Asking the Government in Delhi and the BJP to clarify on remarks about an apparent close-contact with alleged “stakeholders” in J&K, NC Spokesman Junaid Mattu said that every single citizen of J&K was a stakeholder when it came to Article 370. “The Working President of National Conference and Chief Minister of J&K, Omar Abdullah has sought a clarification on who these alleged stakeholders are – who are these ever-willing entities in J&K who have no qualms in talking to individuals and lobbies in Delhi who are hatching half-baked plans to harm Article 370. The elected Government of J&K led by National Conference is a democratically elected and strong voice of the people of this State and we find such statements, indications and provocations unacceptable. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are stakeholders in matters of their aspirations, their identity and their future. And the people of J&K will not allow even the minutest dilution in Article 370 and that is a reality that certain individuals, lobbies and political entities should understand and understand once for all without any doubt”, Mattu said.
Mattu said that the people of J&K deserve to know which political parties and individuals within the State are negotiating with a certain lobby in New Delhi about the attempted abrogation of Article 370. “Is there a Trojan Horse within our walls? Who are these alleged stakeholders who are out to barter Article 370 for their insatiable thirst for political power and patronage? These are very important questions that need to answered at the earliest possible instance. While NC has been repeatedly pointing at a possible nexus between a lobby in New Delhi and a political party within the State based on the quid-pro-quo deal of diluting Article 370, we demand that this nexus be openly declared and exposed without any further delay. We have fought such hidden machinations in the past and are fully capable of fighting them now and giving them a befitting reply,” Mattu said.