The BJP has announced it will address the concerns of the Jammu and Kashmir people through ‘insaniyat’ (humane approach). The statement comes close of the heels of praise from unlikely quarters — the Hurriyat (M) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) — for the BJP-led NDA's attempts to address concerns of Kashmiris.
Riding high on the acknowledgement of the NDA's attempts to resolve the Kashmir problem, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Monday said, “During the past few days, I have read statements of various political groups in the Kashmir valley suggesting that the NDA government in the past was more honest in addressing the issues of Jammu and Kashmir than the UPA government. Most of these groups are ideologically opposed to the BJP. Why then should they be more optimistic about the BJP’s sincerity on the issues of Jammu and Kashmir?”
The BJP leader said Jammu and Kashmir has been integral to BJP’s ideology and the party believes there can be no territorial compromise. “On the external dimensions of the issue, the BJP will never allow India’s territory to be bargained or compromised. On the internal dimensions, our approach will be guided by Atal Behari Vajpayee’s pronouncement that all issues will be resolved within the dimension of ‘insaniyat’ , he said.
Mr. Jaitley said he is equally convinced of the need to address the “sense of discrimination” among the people of Jammu, Leh and Ladakh. “Within the valley, our approach has to be guided by twin considerations of no concession to the separatists and the sense of concern and compassion of the average Kashmiri. Their quality of life has to be improved and the areas where they feel harassed will have to be addressed. In a fight against separatism, the people of Kashmir valley should be our important allies. Issues of their alienation will have to be addressed without compromising on the basic tenets of our ideology,” he said.
Recently, Mirwaiz Farooq had surprised many in political circles by announcing that the BJP-led NDA took some bold steps for the resolution of the Kashmir problem as compared to the Congress-led UPA. The PDP too has spoken favourably about the BJP’s prime ministerial nominee, Narendra Modi.
Published - March 24, 2014 05:15 pm IST
