Shadow Correspondent
Jammu, Mar 06:
Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma on Thursday said that Article 370 is a “closed chapter” and “history.” He said that the BJP will not allow any innocent civilian to die in violence in Kashmir.
Speaking during the discussion on the Lieutenant Governor’s address, Sharma, as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), reiterated that Article 370 is a “closed chapter.”
“The Parliament as well as the Supreme Court has settled the issue of Article 370 forever,” he said, adding that those raking up the Article 370 issue want to keep Jinnah’s two-nation theory alive.
He said that dialogue with Pakistan is the domain of the Ministry of External Affairs. “Some people here advocated dialogue with Pakistan, but they should understand it is not the domain of the Assembly. The MEA knows when to hold talks with Pakistan,” he said.
Sharma also stated that entire Kashmir politics is now revolving around the BJP, with parties blaming each other for being their proxies The Leader Opposition (LoP) in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and BJP MLA, Sunil Sharma on Thursday welcomed External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar’s statement that the ‘Kashmir issue will be solved once the stolen part under illegal Pakistani occupation is returned’.
Jaishankar made these remarks during a session titled ‘India’s Rise and Role in the World’ at the Chatham House think tank in London.
LoP Sunil Sharma said that the EAM had rightly said that there was no issue with this part of Kashmir.
Sharma hit out at those parties in J&K whose leaders raised the issue of talks with Pakistan in the Assembly.
Sharma said, “Jaishankar ji has rightly said that there is no issue with this part of Kashmir; the real issue is PoK. Some members in this Assembly talk about it, but the real concern lies in PoK.”
He said that after the abrogation of Article 370, development has taken place here, and GDP has increased, though some people still engage in such activities. But, Kashmir and J&K as a whole are moving ahead, he said.
EAM Jaishankar, on Wednesday, spoke about the situation in Kashmir and the steps taken by the Indian government, such as removing Article 370, restoring growth and economic activity and social justice in Kashmir, as well as holding elections, which were successfully conducted in the Union Territory with a large turnout by the people there.
He also added that the only part of Jammu and Kashmir illegally controlled by India’s neighbour, Pakistan, is the only thing which was left from attaining complete resolution of the problems in Jammu and Kashmir.
On being asked about the issues of Kashmir, EAM Jaishankar said: “Look in Kashmir actually we have done I think good job solving most of it. I think removing Article 370 was step number one. Then, restoring growth and economic activity and social justice in Kashmir was step number two; holding elections, which were done with a very high turnout, was step number three. I think the part we are waiting for is the return of the stolen part of Kashmir, which is on the illegal Pakistani occupation. When that’s done, I assure you. Kashmir solved.” (Agencies)
