NC exploiting Article 370 for political gains: Balbir

JAMMU August 20: Bringing back Article 370 is next to impossible and National Conference (NC) is trying to mislead the people by promising its restoration. It is nothing but a political gimmick aimed at winning the support of the people in the forthcoming assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The people are more aware in the present era of modern means of communication and can’t be misled through emotions and false narratives.

Balbir Ram Rattan, BJP senior leader & Co-Incharge Media Relations Department and former VC, said this while reacting to the misleading poll promises mentioned in the Election Manifesto of NC.

Dr. Pardeep Mahotra, Media Secretary, J&K BJP and Sanjay Bakshi, Member, Media team were also present in the Press Conference held at party headquarters, Trikuta Nagar, Jammu.

Article 370 and 35 A, have been removed forever, constitutionally and legally, and cannot be brought back by the assembly, Balbir said, adding that even NC leaders too know it well that the special provision has gone into chapters of the history forever, but are making attempts to regain the lost political ground by emotionally exploiting it.

Balbir Ram Rattan said that restoration of Article 370 and 35A would mean snatching rights of the refugees, SCs, Valmiki Samaj and daughters of the soil and the people would never allow this to happen. The NC can dream of anything but must remember that enough water has flown down the Jhelum and cannot be brought back.

Balbir Ram Rattan reminded the people that it is the same NC that had been seeking the votes for decades together on the name of ‘Autonomy’ and today this issue has been put into dustbin due to the simple reason that its leadership has realized that ‘old wine cannot be served in new bottle’ for long, which has forced them to now shift politics on Article 370.

Dr. Pardeep Mahotra said that the NC manifesto also promises return of Kashmiri pandits to the valley but no one will trust this as it was the party which was in power in J&K for so many years prior to and after migration of this community but none of its leader uttered a single word of sympathy for them who were forced to leave Kashmir for the honour and safety of families. This is again a political gimmick and the affected people will never trust it.

Dr. Pardeep said that advocating talks with Pakistan has once again exposed NC for its soft corner for a country to which the entire world recognizes as the master of terrorism. The NC should not forget that India has suffered a lot during the past over thirty years under Pak sponsored terrorism.  History stands witness to the fact that India made repeated attempts to build cordial relations with its neighbour, which was never serious to be a peace-loving nation.