BJP blames Nehru’s ‘erroneous’ vision for problems in Kashmir

“The first key challenge is that it is part of the unfinished agenda of Pakistan since independence,” Jaitley said.

Talking about the resolution passed at the meeting,the BJP leader said it expresses the party’s dissatisfaction with the Centre’s policy towards the border state.

“The problems in Jammu and Kashmir even 63 years after independence are due to the approach and attitude of successive Congress governments at the Centre,” Jaitley said.

The Rajya Sabha MP said these “weak policies” had made separatists think their hope was a “realisable reality”.

The party said a working group under C Rangarajan earlier had not achieved much.

“Suddenly a new idea of interlocutors was born but they decided to hold dialogue through the media…. The government seems to have run out of ideas,” Jaitley said.

The party also demanded that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act should not be diluted. It also states that the common people should not be harassed.

The BJP resolution states that the “erroneous” vision of Nehru on Kashmir and granting special status to the state under Article 370 as the reasons for the current problems there.

“Article 370 means the Centre has very few powers,” Jaitley said,adding that it weakens Jammu and Kashmir’s links with the Centre.

“It has prevented investment in the state and is a psychological barrier,” he said,adding that the resolution demands scrapping of Article 370.

The BJP has usually downplayed its stand on Article 370 due to compulsions of coalition politics as several NDA partners do not see eye-to-eye with the right-wing party on the issue.

Attacking Pakistan for the problems in Kashmir,Jaitley said that when it could not match India in conventional military strength,it resorted to terrorism and a proxy war.

“After 9/11,the global appetite for accepting terror came to an end,” the senior leader said.

The resolution states that resorting to violence in the Valley is a strategy of the separatists and should be dealt with severely,he said.

Underlining the need for a dispassionate analysis of the situation in Kashmir Valley,Jaitley said Article 370 has worked against the interest of the state.

“It has created a psychological barrier between the state and the rest of India. It has prevented the state’s total integration with the rest of the country besides investments and creation of job opportunities,” he said.

“Instead it has given hope to the separatists both outside and within that the political and constitutional relationship of J&K with India could be terminated. It is our belief that Article 370 should be revoked”,the BJP leader said.

Coming out with a three-point formula to end the problems in Kashmir,Jaitley said the solution lay in complete integration of J and K with India,ending discrimination against Jammu and Ladakh regions and making distinction between separatists and common people in the Valley.

“Further it will be achieved by BJP’s approach of full constitutional integration of Jammu and Kashmir into India,by bringing comfort and growth to the lives of the people and complete negation of what the separatists want”,Jaitley,who was accompanied by BJP spokesperson Prakash Javedkar and the party’s Pradesh unit President Shamsher Singh Manhas,said.

Criticizing the Centre’s approach towards dealing with the problems faced by the state,Jaitley said on each of his visits to the Valley Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announces some “adhoc initiatives”.

The Prime Minister constituted working groups during his visit in 2006 and a unilateral report by the Chairman was produced supporting the demand for autonomy,he said.

On a subsequent visit,PM announced constitution of groups which would help generate jobs and rejuvenate economy in the state.

“Little did the Prime Minister realize that he has already appointed the same working group headed by the same Chairman on his earlier visit,” he said.

The Home Minister then announced an initiative of “silent dialogue” and none took place,he alleged.

They then constituted a panel of three interlocutors who started the dialogue through the media even though the response received from the Valley was lukewarm,Jaitley said.