With Congress and BJP the two main contenders for power in Himachal Pradesh and Gujrat assembly elections trading charges over vexed Kashmir issue the Kashmir policy of both the previous Congress government and the incumbent BJP government at the centre has become an election issue in both the poll bound states. Though both Congress and BJP should have focused on issues concerning the welfare of the people of Himachal Pradesh and Gujrat states but both the parties have shifted focus to their policies on Kashmir just for the purposes of political appeasement. While BJP tends to maintain its control over Gujrat ruled by it for last more than two decades and reclaim its control in Himachal Pradesh presently ruled by the Congress party, the Congress putting in its best to retain its control over Himachal and dislodge BJP in Gujarat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself spearheading BJP’s election campaign in both the states is leaving no stone unturned to corner the Congress on the issue of restoration of autonomy to Jammu & Kashmir the time when his governmet at the centre has appointed Dineshwar Sharma a former Intelligence Bureau (IB) Directors asa special representative for political dialogue in Jammu & Kashmir. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi the two star campaigners of BJP and Congress have made the Kashmir autonomy issue the point of debate in their speeches at the election rallies. Both Modi and Rahul are using the Congress leader P Chidambaram’s Rajkot statement on restoration of greater autonomy to Jammu & Kashmir . Unfortunately Prime Minister Modi in his fiery speeches at election rallies in both the states Himachal Pradesh and Gujrat is trying to create an impression that Congress was seeking to separate Jammu & Kashmir from the Union of India and a vote for the Congress would mean not just the disintegration of the country but also a vote against the Indian Army and the paramilitaries fighting internal and external military aggression in Jammu & Kashmir.
Since almost all the mainstream leaders in Kashmir are alleging that the Prime Minister Modi and other top leaders of BJP by virtue of their proactive statements on political engagements in Jammu & Kashmir have already defeated the purposes of the appointment Dineshwar Sharma as special representative for dialogue in Jammu & Kashmir, question can be asked that what would Shatma offer to Kashmir when the Prime Minister and the other top BJP leaders are saying that the demand for autonomy in Kashmir is the agenda of separation of Jammu and Kashmir from the Union of India.
While the fact remains that restoration of autonomy does not mean separation of Jammu & Kashmir but restoration of the constitutional powers to Jammu & Kashmir granted to it by the parliament at the time of agreeing to accede to Union of India, Prime Minister Modi through his speeches in election rallies in Himachal Pradesh and Gujrat is creating a confusion about the intents of his government in appointing Dineshwar Sharma a former Director of Intelligence Bureau as special representative for political dialogue in Jammu & Kashmir. Unfortunately Prime Minister Modi himself is invoking Shyama Prasad Mookerjee in his elections with the argument that erstwhile Jan Sangh was not for the separation of Jammu & Kashmir and Mookerjee laid down his life in Kashmir on June 23, 1953 but he does not dare to mention something about the unmatched popularity of the political uprising that had erupted in Jammu & Kashmir under the leadership of late Sheikh Mohammad after the then central government dethroned him as Prime Minister of Jammu & Kashmir . Using the slogan “Jahan Huye Balidan Mookerjee Wo Kashmir Hamara Hai” just to arouse popular feelings for the BJP in both the poll bound states the Prime Minister is making an abortive attempt to deflect the attention of the people from the growing economic unrest brewing up in the aftermath of demonestisation and implement of Good & Services Tax (GST) across the country. Prime Minister perhaps has no concerns for the damage his fiery speeches on autonomy issue are causing to the proposed engagements of his government’s special Kashmir representative Dineshwar Sharma in Jammu & Kashmir state. Since almost all the mainstream leaders in Kashmir are alleging that the Prime Minister Modi and other top leaders of BJP by virtue of their proactive statements on political engagements in Jammu & Kashmir have already defeated the purposes of the appointment Dineshwar Sharma as special representative for dialogue in Jammu & Kashmir, question can be asked that what would Shatma offer to Kashmir when the Prime Minister and the other top BJP leaders are saying that the demand for autonomy in Kashmir is the agenda of separation of Jammu and Kashmir from the Union of India.
