The Communist Party of India has expressed concern over the manner in which the federal spirit of the country is being diluted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government and said the time has come for waging a sustained struggle against the ‘BJP Raj’ for saving democracy and democratic institutions.
CPI general secretary D. Raja criticized the BJP government for not obtaining the views of the people or political parties in Jammu & Kashmir before the bifurcation of the State into two Union Territories which in turn was tantamount to diluting the federal structure of the country. “It is mandatory to obtain the consent of the respective Assembly when a decision on bifurcation of the State is taken. But Mr. Modi led government dissolved the Assembly after the BJP pulled out of the coalition and a decision on abrogation of Article 370 was taken by the Central government,” he said.
Mr. Raja was here on Sunday to participate in a discussion on “abrogation of Article 370 and the situation in Jammu & Kashmir” organized by the party’s Telangana State unit. The Prime Minister’s policies influenced by the RSS had ensured that the Kashmir issue attracted international attention and had become a complex issue now.
Extended session
He recalled how the government had extended the budget session of Parliament to amend certain laws and scrapping Article 370 that would impact the common man. “The Right To Information Act has been amended so also is the legislation relating to Aadhaar. The provisions of NIA and UAPA acts have also been amended. The government can brand anybody questioning its policies and actions as anti-social elements or terrorists with the amendments and it will be for the gullible people to prove their innocence,” he said.
He said the implications and consequences of the recent “unconstitutional and undemocratic” developments like the one in Jammu & Kashmir had deeper impact in that Parliament could be made redundant if the present policies continued unopposed. Leaders of 14 opposition parties who went on a fact finding mission to Kashmir were stopped in the airport and were sent back.
Curfew was imposed in the State as the people were criticizing the Prime Minister and the State Governor for their “blatant lies” on the factual situation in the valley. The CPI had therefore decided to bring together like-minded parties and organisations in the struggle against the “fascist and authoritarian” government. CPI state secretary Chada Venkat Reddy presided over the meeting.
