Now, Cong's Khurshid backs end of Art 370: ‘Prosperity in Kashmir, Pak out to undo'
Congress leader and former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday backed the abrogation of Article 370, saying it was unfortunate that Pakistan wants to undo the 'prosperity that has come to Kashmir' because of it.
In an address to Indonesian think tanks and academia in Jakarta, which he is visiting as a member of a multi-party delegation to rally support for India's war against terror emanating from Pakistan, Khurshid said, 'Kashmir had a major, major problem for a long time. Much of that was reflected in the thinking of the government in an Article called 370 of the Constitution, which somehow gave the impression that it (Kashmir) was separate from the rest of the country. Article 370 was abrogated, finally put to an end, because so much time had passed. Subsequently, there was an election and 65% participation. There is an elected government in Kashmir today, and therefore, for people to want to undo everything that has happened, the prosperity that has come to Kashmir, it is very unfortunate. It will give a setback to anybody.'
'As you know, no one can be told to give up a part of their sovereignty, give up a part of your family. Kashmir and we are family, nobody can break this family or our home,' he said.
The Congress has been ambivalent on the issue of restoring Article 370, which granted J&K special status, ever since the BJP-led government scrapped it in August 2019. The Congress opposed its abrogation in Parliament, but later nuanced its position after factoring in the views of several leaders.
The Congress also briefly joined the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration that had, among others, the National Conference, the Peoples Democratic Party, and the People's Conference. It was a party to the alliance's August 2020 joint statement which said the parties would strive for the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A. But three months later, the Congress declared it was no longer part of the alliance.
Following Khurshid's remarks, BJP leaders targeted the Congress, with Puri MP Sambit Patra saying somebody should relay the comments to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said he 'hopes the Congress does not designate Salman Khurshid as 'super pravakta (super spokesperson)' after he has busted their narrative on 370'. It was a dig at Congress spokesperson Udit Raj who recently said party MP Shashi Tharoor, who is leading one of the delegations, should be designated by the BJP as a 'super spokesperson'.
'Will Rahul Gandhi admit Article 370 was his family blunder? Even Salman Khurshid has now lauded its removal,' said Poonawala. The Indian Express reached out to the Congress for a comment, but there was no response.
In Jakarta, Khurshid, according to news agency ANI, also said: 'The Indian Parliament has a long-standing unanimous resolution that the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir must be vacated and given back to India. There is a law that even in the Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, seats that would have been in that area are kept vacant. We have a long-term commitment that the area has to come back to us.'
Mentioning the military strikes on terror bases in Pakistan, he said, 'That is the only message we are giving and the limited exercise to ensure that our family remains safe is all we did in the four days we tried to give a message to Pakistan. Please don't do this misadventure, you will not succeed.'
He said the government had expressed its distress that 'repeated attempts to talk and negotiate have been betrayed by Pakistan'.
'By several attacks that have happened over the years. It has been made clear that we are now taking several steps. Steps that we took, which are called kinetic steps, to eliminate terror hubs in Pakistan and PoK. It was the first thing we did. When there was a retaliation, without escalating any further, we responded to that retaliation by neutralising the bases from where the retaliation was coming. The Indian government has clearly stated that talks can happen only when Pakistan's commitment to peace is clear, and its support to terrorism is cogently shown to have stopped. This includes conversing about the Indus Waters Treaty being put in abeyance,' he said.
Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express.
During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state.
During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute.
Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor.
Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More
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