It seems Congress and Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) are getting rubbed the wrong way as India gets into a celebratory mood after BJP government in a bold and pathbreaking move, rendered Article 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir redundant and revoked special status to Jammu and Kashmir. It also declared J&K and Ladakh Union Territories.
A group of BJP leaders and workers had been detained by Mohali police for organizing celebrations in support of the Narendra Modi government’s decision to repeal Article 370, which gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
BJP councillors, Sahibee Anand and Arun Sharma along with a group of supporters assembled at Phase 9 in Mohali and started raising slogans against Article 370. The group also started distributing sweets to celebrate the scrapping, when a police team arrived at the spot. The group of about 50 odd workers and leaders were detained. They were, however, released later.
While speaking to the media, Sahibee Anand criticised Congress leader and CM of Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh for refraining them from celebrating this historic move. “It’s a historic day for all. Everyone should join in the celebrations. I don’t know why we’re being stopped from celebrating peacefully,’’ he told the reporters.
Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee’s government on Monday got 5 Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) members, including district BJYM president, Kanchan Debnath, arrested in Siliguri, who had also gathered to celebrate the scrapping of Article 370 and 35A.
“The president of BJYM has been arrested. This is totally unconstitutional. Everywhere in India people are celebrating the repealing of Article 370 but the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal is not allowing us to celebrate this momentous occasion,” Aniket Das, district vice president of BJYM said while speaking to ANI.
“We are celebrating with the tricolour and not under any organisational flag but still the police have arrested our members. We will protest this action and “gherao” the police station,” he added.
Yesterday, in a historic move, the Centre scrapped Article 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir. Shortly after Home Minister Amit Shah tabled a resolution to this effect in Rajya Sabha yesterday, President Ram Nath Kovind came out with a notification.
Kashmir Reorganisation Bill stripping Article 370 and declaring JK as Union Territory was passed in Rajya Sabha with 125 Ayes and 61 Nos. It is currently being presented in the Lok Sabha.
However, BJP government’s audacious decision to scrap Article 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir has got a mixed reaction from Congress as well the Trinamool Congress. While mostly Congress members preferred to parrot Pakistan’s line, invoking UN and ‘bilateral issues’ there were few within the party who went against their party’s stand and batted for India. Moreover, Congress’ Chief whip resigned from RS calling his party’ decision to oppose the effective scrapping of Article 370 as ‘political suicide’.
On the other hand, while TMC government condemned the Centre’s decision by calling it ‘Procedural harakiri’, TMC’s chief whip too, in a cryptic message, today, welcomed stripping of Article 370.
