Congress recently announced its new melodrama named ‘Bharat Jodo’ yatra
and Congress stalwarts from all walks of life have already started praising it
as usual. The yatra has received support from some sections of the society
including the leftists, the socialists, the so called Gandhian believers and
many other few activists. Leaders like Yogendra Yadav, Aruna Roy, Medha Patkar,
retired Justice Kolse-Patil, Ali Anwar, Tushar Gandhi, Dr. Sunilam, Bezwada
Wilson, Devanura Mahadev, Ganesh Devi, PV Rajgopalan among others have already
announced their participation in this yatra. Congress’ prince has finally
realised that in order to be involved in active politics, they have to come up
with out-of-the-box initiatives, some revolutionary and proactive events.
Better late than never, but it is too late now.
I presume that after the revelations into the National Herald case,
close aides of the Congress’ mother-son duo must have been advised to undertake
damage control initiatives to repair their tarnished image. It is only through
such initiatives that to a certain extent they will be able to repair this
damage. Congress, after having done all the wrong things in life, now seems to
have realised its mistakes and hence trying to do some good work.
The Congress has, since 1947, only worked towards strengthening forces
that have always adopted ‘divide and rule’ mechanism. Looking back into the
history, one will be reminded of the violence in Punjab during the 1980’s where
under the guise of Khalistan, Congress had extended support to Bhindranwale and
his associates. In 1973, the Akali Dal, during its meeting at the Anandpur
Sahib, for its political existence had demanded better autonomy for Punjab. We
have seen how Bhindranwale was empowered by the then Congress leadership to
defeat the Akali Dal that had won power in Punjab in 1977. And now when the
Congress announces its ‘Bharat Jodo’ campaign, does it not sound like a big
farce?
A few years later, it had become difficult for the Congress to get rid
of this Khalistani terrorist. What began as a move to discredit the Akali Dal,
terminated in the assassination of the then Prime Minister of the country,
Indira Gandhi. This is because Indira Gandhi had asked the Army, under its
‘Operation Blue Star’ to drive Bhindranwale, the Khalistani terrorist from the
Golden temple of Amritsar. After the assassination of Indira Gandhi, thousands
of Sikhs were massacred in Delhi. One need not reiterate the involvement of
Congress leadership in this massacre. This is how the Congress has always been
working towards ‘Bharat Jodo’. Isn’t it now astonishing to have a yatra like
this announced by the Congress?
When there was mass killing of the Sikhs in Delhi, the then Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi had not bothered to express any regret or grief. Instead,
he had said that ‘when a banyan tree falls, it is bound to affect its roots’.
And by saying this, he had indirectly supported the massacre of the Sikhs. The
Congress has, on several occasions, conveniently taken up initiatives like this
‘Bharat Jodo’ but has only ensured its political gains and has been successful
in creating differences between castes and religions.
After India got its independence, Kashmir was granted a ‘special’
status under Article 370 of the Constitution. Later, Article 35A was added to
it and thus, various different powers were entrusted to Jammu and Kashmir. The
state flag of Kashmir enjoyed the same status as the country’s flag, its state
assembly had the right to determine the status and identity of its citizens and
the Parliament had the authority to make laws for Jammu and Kashmir only on
matters related to defence, foreign affairs and communication. It was also
binding on the Parliament to seek permission from Jammu and Kashmir state
assembly for enforcing the various laws that were binding on the citizens of
the country. The various laws applicable to the other states of the country were
not applicable to them. According to Article 360, there is a provision to
impose financial emergency in the country. Even that provision wasn’t
applicable to Jammu and Kashmir. According to Article 35A, permanent
citizenship status was granted to only those women staying in Jammu and
Kashmir. If any woman of Jammu and Kashmir married to a groom outside the
state, that woman had to lose all her rights to her property in Jammu and
Kashmir. Her husband and even her children were denied the right to purchase any
land in Jammu and Kashmir. In addition, children of these women were not
admitted to any government schools or colleges. They were also denied the right
to vote in elections to the Legislative Assembly or to any other local
self-government body elections.
In 1998, the Indian Parliament had passed a law. According to this law,
restrictions were imposed on the misuse of private religious places of worship.
This Act had stated that the religious places of worship cannot be misused for
creating a rift between religions. However, due to the special powers granted
to Kashmir, this Act was not implemented in Jammu and Kashmir. As a result,
slogans of Jihad spread in Jammu and Kashmir. Anti-India slogans were shouted.
There was an appeal to increase the spirit of Jihad among the youth. The
Kashmiri Pandits were being driven out from their own hometown. Thousands of
people from the Gorkha, Valmiki and the Muslim communities who were displaced
from Western Pakistan and who had sought refuge in Jammu and Kashmir were
denied citizenship due to 35A. Now, after Article 370 being repealed, nearly 37
different national laws, which were so far not adopted by Jammu and Kashmir –
strengthening the inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability of the
democratic system, have come into force. These include Prevention of Corruption
Act, GST, Bankruptcy Act, Indian Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure. In
addition, laws enacted for the protection of the Dalits and the minorities have
been implemented in Jammu and Kashmir. Now, over 10,000 safai workers and
Dalits in Jammu and Kashmir will get various facilities, owing to the
cancellation of Article 370 and Article 35A.
Will Congress’ prince and the other leaders like Yogendra Yadav now
elaborate on how the earlier schemes were beneficial in uniting the nation? It
was the Congress leadership that had repeatedly ignoring the separatist forces
in Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and Article 35A. Whether the Congress’
mother- son duo are aware as to how much the country has already suffered owing
to their misdeeds and due to spread of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir? Why it
never happened earlier that the intellectuals like Yogendra Yadav, Aruna Roy or
Ganesh Devi never thought of cancelling the triple talaq which was one of the biggest
injustices meted out to Muslim women? If the Congress leadership feels that
they are contributing in uniting the nation by opposing the construction of Ram
Mandir on Ram Janmabhoomi, then they are totally wrong. Now, with this so
called ‘Bharat Jodo’ campaign, if Congress and its stalwarts believe that they
will be able to unite the nation and get people’s support, we sincerely wish
them all the success. But they should realise that it is too late for congress
to get people’s support for such Melodramatic activity.
(Article Pre-Published in Times of India - Online, 29 August 2022)
Keshav
Upadhye, chief spokesperson
No comments:
Post a Comment