Article 370: Voices of dissent within Congress

Agencies

August 6, 2019

New Delhi, Aug 6: A number of Congress leaders across the country have gone against the party's stand in Parliament on abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir by supporting the Centre's move and a bill to bifurcate the state.

The Congress has strongly opposed the move and the bill to bifurcate the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories.

Going against the party's stand, senior Congress leaders Janardan Dwivedi, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Deepender Hooda have voiced support to the move.

In an embarrassment to the Congress, another leader Anil Shastri said the grand old party should sense the mood of the people before taking a stand, noting that they were with the government on this.

Dwivedi welcomed the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, saying even though it came late, a historical mistake had been corrected.

Scindia said he supported the move on Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and the state's full integration into the Union of India, adding that it was in the interest of the country.

"I support the move on #JammuAndKashmir & #Ladakh and its full integration into union of India.

"Would have been better if constitutional process had been followed. No questions could have been raised then. Nevertheless, this is in our country's interest and I support this," he said on Twitter.

Shastri also said on Twitter, "Congress must sense the mood of the people and then take a stand. The people are totally with the government on this issue. We opposed Mandal and lost UP and Bihar and should not risk now of losing India."

Hooda contended that the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir "is in the interest of national integrity".

Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora said it was "very unfortunate" that Article 370 was being converted into a "liberal vs conservative debate".

"Parties should put aside ideological fixations & debate what's best for India's sovereignty and federalism, peace in J&K, jobs for Kashmiri youth and justice for Kashmiri Pandits," he said in a tweet.

"Abolishing Article 370 of the Indian Constitution could well be dubbed Modi Sarkar 2.0's demonetisation moment.

"For the sake of peace and development in Jammu & Kashmir, I hope this decision plays out more favourably than demonetisation did," Deora noted.

Dwivedi said it was a matter of national satisfaction that a "mistake" made at the time of Independence was corrected.

He added that after Independence, many freedom fighters did not want Article 370 to remain in place and cited the example of Ram Manohar Lohia, under whom he had his political training and who was against Article 370.

"This is a matter of satisfaction for the nation. This historical mistake that happened at the time of Independence has been rectified today, even though late, and is welcomed," Dwivedi told PTI, while clarifying that his opinion was personal and he was not putting forward his party's view.

Congress's chief whip in the Rajya Sabha Bhubaneshwar Kalita quit his membership in the Upper House of Parliament over the issue after the party asked him to issue a whip to all members for opposing the bill.

Hooda said, "I have always maintained that Article 370 should be scrapped. It has no place in the 21st century. Abrogation of this Article is in the interest of national integrity and the people of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral part of India. However, the onus of peaceful implementation of this transition in a trustworthy environment lies on the incumbent government."

Congress MLA from Rae Bareli Aditi Singh also said on Twitter, "United we stand! Jai Hind. #Article370."

When someone reminded her that she was a Congress leader, Singh replied back, saying, "Main ek Hindustani hoon (I am an Indian)."

She termed it a historic decision and urged people not to politicise it.

Singh's Assembly segment -- Rae Bareli Sadar -- is a part of UPA chairperson and former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's Lok Sabha constituency.

Meanwhile, sources said the top Congress leadership was learnt to be peeved at the comments of the party's leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, questioning whether Jammu and Kashmir was an internal matter as it was being monitored by the United Nations.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

At JNU, P Chidambaram says there should be ‘huge mass movement’ is any Muslim is sent to detention camps because of CAA

News Network

February 14,2020

New Delhi, Feb 14: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday said there must be a "huge mass movement" if any Muslim was sent to detention camps in case the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Speaking at the JNU campus, the former Union minister said the CAA was an outcome of the "NRC fiasco" in Assam that left 19 lakh people out of the document.

The CAA was brought to accommodate the 12 lakh Hindus among the 19 lakh people who could not be included in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, he claimed.

Replying to a question by a student on the best course of action if the CAA was upheld by the apex court, Chidambaram said, "When they touch the excluded...they will only be Muslims, to identify and throw them out, declare them stateless, there must be a huge mass movement, resisting any Muslim being thrown out or kept in detention camps."

He also said the Congress believed that the CAA must be repealed and there should be a political struggle so that the National Population Register (NPR) was pushed beyond 2024.

Claiming that the NRC, CAA and NPR were "closely connected" to each other, Chidambaram said, "The CAA was brought due to the NRC fiasco in Assam and the opposition to the CAA gave way to the NPR."

He asserted that the Congress was protesting against the CAA and the NRC across the country, but had consciously avoided going to Shaheen Bagh, as in that case, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would brand the demonstration against the amended citizenship law as a "political" one.

"See, we are not going to Shaheen Bagh because that would be falling into the BJP's trap. If we go there, they (BJP) will say it is political," the senior Congress leader said.

Slamming the CAA and the NRC as instruments undermining the very basis of the formation of India, he said the country, instead, needed a "broad law" on refugees.

Speaking at an event against the NRC, CAA and NPR hosted by the Congress's student wing, NSUI, at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Chidambaram accused the BJP of spreading lies against Opposition parties.

"The BJP says the Congress, the Left and other liberal parties are against citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Sikhs from Pakistan, Bangladesh. But we are not against those included, our opposition is against exclusion," he said.

Questioning the rationale behind the CAA, the former finance minister said it excluded people on the basis of religion.

"Why only three countries, what about other neighbouring countries — Nepal, Bhutan, China? What about others treated much worse? The Ahmadiyas and Shias of Pakistan, the Rohingyas of Myanmar, Tamil Hindus are equally persecuted, why are they left out?" he questioned.

Chidambaram also said the CAA did not cover persecution based on language, political ideology and economic deprivation.

Slamming the NRC, he wondered which country would accept those left out of the document.

"Which country is going to accept them? How will they go? Where will you send them? (Home Minister) Amit Shah saying that they are termites and he will throw them out by 2024 is talking through his hat," the senior Congress leader said.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

India's total COVID-19 cases mount to 14,792, Maharashtra continues to be worst-hit

News Network

April 18,2020

New Delhi, Apr 18: With 957 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours and 36 deaths, India's total count of coronavirus cases has surged to 14,792, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.

The total cases are inclusive of 2,014 cured and discharged patients, one migrated and 488 deaths. At present, there are 12,289 active COVID-19 cases in the country.

Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that mortality rate due to COVID-19 in our country is around 3.3 per cent.

"An age-wise analysis will tell you that 14.4 per cent of deaths have been reported in the age group of 0-45 years. Between 45-60 years it is 10.3 percent, between 60-75 years it is 33.1 percent and for 75 years, and above it is 42.2 percent," Aggarwal said at a press conference here.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Walking from Delhi to MP, man dies in Agra amid lockdown

Agencies

March 29,2020

Agra, Mar 29: A 39-year-old man, who had walked almost 200 kilometers from Delhi to reach his home in Morena in Madhya Pradesh, collapsed and died in Agra on Saturday.

The man, identified as Ranveer Singh, worked as home delivery boy for a private restaurant in the national capital.

According to police, the victim collapsed near Kailash turning of the national highway-2, after which a local hardware store owner Sanjay Gupta rushed to the victim.

Sikandra station house officer (SHO) Arvind Kumar, said, 'Gupta made the victim lie on a carpet and offered tea and biscuit. The victim complained about chest pain and also called his brother-in-law Arvind Singh over phone to share his health condition. At around 6.30 P.m, the victim passed away and local police was informed. "

Ranveer had left for his native village on Friday morning on foot. It is likely that exhaustion of 200-km walk might have caused chest pain.

The SHO said,"On the entire NH-2 stretch, UP policemen are present with food packets and water for such persons but Ranveer's death is unfortunate. "

After the death, policemen took the victim's body for post-mortem. The autopsy report is yet to be re eased.

According to information available, Ranveer was working in Delhi's Tughlakabad for the past three- years. He is survived by three children including two daughters. He belongs to a family of farmers and was the main bread winner for his family.

His family has been brought to Agra to take the body back to their village for the last rites.

Comments

very sad news....this is the condition of hindu people after they adopt hindutva idology.

Politician enjoying playing ludo and watching ramayan, after complete lockdown, not even bothered by government about their transport,

modi spend crore on statue, but no hospital

this is the hindu rastra you want right...enjoy marons