Jammu: The Article 370 of the constitution has become a history, senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Surendra Jain said on Sunday as he raised a pitch for reclaiming parts of Jammu and Kashmir under the “illegal occupation of Pakistan and China”, saying it will become a reality soon.
Jain, Union Joint General Secretary of VHP, was speaking at a rally ‘’Punya Bhumi Samaran Sabha’ organized by RSS-backed Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Forum here to pay collective tributes to those who were killed in Pakistani onslaught on October 22, 1947 and reiterate a pledge to reclaim the lost areas.
Senior BJP leaders led ‘Tiranga yatra’ from different parts of the city to join the rally which was attended by Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) displaced persons from within and outside Jammu and Kashmir besides Peethadheeshwar Sri Sri 1008 Sri Swami Vishwatmanand Saraswati Maharaj, Mahamandaleshwar Swami Dharmadev, film actor and producer Mukesh Rishi.
Amid chants for liberation of PoJK, the VHP leader said “whether you want compensation or land of your ancestors and religious places like Sharada Peeth…the pledge you have taken is shortly becoming a reality,” he said.
Jain said it is not an issue related to Hindus and Muslims as many nationalist Muslims were also killed by the Pakistani raiders in 1947.
Without naming National Conference, Congress and PDP, he said “the role of a few families who ruled J&K in past decades is over. Now only the writ of the country and the people of J&K will run in J&K.”
“The one who cannot chant the slogans in praise of the motherland India has Pakistan ‘zindabad’ inscribed somewhere in his or her heart,” he said adding a new J&K is emerging under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who revoked the Article 370 without caring for the “threats and blackmails”.
The VHP leader said “the Article 370 is done away and its restoration is not possible. It has become part of a history and so are the questions which were being raised time and again over the legality of the accession of J&K with India even as the Maharaja Hari Singh, the last Dogra ruler, had signed the same accession document like the rulers of other princely states.”
He said the only issue is the fulfilment of the resolution passed unanimously by the Parliament on February 22, 1994, emphasizing that Pakistan must vacate parts of Jammu and Kashmir under its illegal occupation.
“The area left with us is 46 per cent of the total area of Jammu and Kashmir merged by Maharaja with India, while the major chunk of 54 percent is under illegal occupation of Pakistan and China. Reclaiming the land and uniting it with India is our right and our pledge,” he said, adding “the area under illegal occupation of China is not out of our pledge”.
Asserting that India is incomplete without the lost parts of J&K, he said “we have a strong Prime Minister and his government is determined to bring back what belongs to the country. We request the government to speed up the process and make it a reality in the shortest possible time.”
Asking displaced persons of PoJK settled in different parts of the country to get their domicile certificates prepared in Jammu and Kashmir to play an active role in its future, the VHP leader welcomed the delimitation commission recommendations for reservation of assembly seats for PoJK.
“The delimitation commission on J&K submitted its final report and it is heartening that it did not touched the 24 seats reserved for PoJK thus conveying a message that we have not given up our claim. We are determined to reclaim the lost area,” he said and requested the central government to defreeze at least eight seats for the displaced community to give them due representation.
Jain also referred to the Kashmir Files movie and said it highlighted the problems faced by the Kashmiri pandits which led to their exodus from the valley in 1990.
“I would like the film director (Vivek Agnihotri) to make a movie on the exodus of PoJK refugees as well to educate the people of the country about the atrocities faced by them,” he said.
