CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday said the Centre was indulging in “absolute distortion of facts” to justify its decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and bifurcate the State.
Speaking at a workshop on States’ rights and new legislations, he said there was false propaganda that the decision on Article 370 was taken to integrate Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country when its real intent was “to polarise Hindus and Muslims".
Under Article 371 a to i, at least 12 States enjoyed special status, and even in BJP-ruled States like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, outsiders were barred from buying land. “So, in the name of integration, will the government allow outsiders to buy land in these States? The real intention is to polarise the community. Alienation of people in Kashmir was the real problem, and in one stroke, you have cemented their alienation,” Mr. Yechury said.
The BJP was trying to create the impression that the country’s first Deputy Prime Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and the architect of the Constitution, B.R. Ambedkar, were against Article 370, the CPI(M) leader said.
“Now, they say [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi has done what Patel was prevented from doing by the country’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. It is completely wrong. Both the leaders, along with Sheikh Abdullah, were part of the decision-making [process],” he said.
