It’s been a long time since the Indian National Congress took a pro-India stance and perhaps that explains the party’s unstoppable downfall. In yet another instance of the party working against the best interests of the country, in a joint statement with the CPI(M), PDP and NC, the INC has pledged to “tirelessly struggle” to restore Article 370 in Kashmir.
If the Indian National Congress ever comes back to power at the Centre, it will likely restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood by restoring the Article 370, if the joint statement is anything to go by. The statement said that the six political parties would, “tirelessly struggle to get back the special status and restore the Constitutional guarantees forcibly taken away from J&K”.
The statement further read that the all the political activities in the Union Territory will now be focused on the “sacred goal of reverting to the special status of J&K as it existed on 4th August 2019”. The statement also labelled the move as “unconstitutional” as it read, “The series of measures undertaken on 5 August 2019 were grossly unconstitutional and in reality measures of disempowerment and a challenge to the basic identity of the people of Jammu & Kashmir. The measures attempt to redefine who we are. These changes were accompanied by repressive measures meant to silence people and coerce them into submission, and continue unabated.”
The statement concluded by stating, “We are committed to strive for the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A, the Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir and the restoration of the State and any division of the State is unacceptable to us. We unanimously reiterate that there can be nothing about us without us.”
It is pertinent to note that when the Modi government announced the revoking of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir, it sparked a mini rebellion in the INC as the young leaders of the party publicly went against the party line and supported the abrogation of Article 370. Then Congress leader, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Deepender Hooda, Jitin Prasada and RPN Singh publicly challenged the party line as they urged the high command to read the writing on the wall.
“Whatever we may think about the government’s decision but the people outside are all for this. We have to face the people in our constituencies,” said a young Congress leader at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee. Scindia and Hooda’s stance was further backed by senior Congress leaders like Janardan Dwivedi, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Milind Deora.
The INC simply refuses to learn from its mistakes and is hell-bent on destroying the trust of every last remaining Congress voter in the country by opposing the rightful integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of India.
India scored a major diplomatic victory as major countries refused to take a stand on the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir. Usual suspects like Pakistan, China and Turkey whined along with the support of left-liberal publications like the New York Times but the leaders of the Muslim Ummah, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have till date not taken a decidedly anti-India stance on Kashmir and Article 370 which has been the bone of contention between Pakistan and the Arab world, prompting the former to gravitate towards Erdogan, much to the chagrin of the Saudis who are now moving to sever ties with their once traditional ally, Pakistan.
The joint statement is a blatant attempt to internationalise the issue of Kashmir. There are no prizes for guessing who else wants to internationalise the issue of Kashmir. Imran Khan will fully use the joint statement in his desperate bid for the UNSC to discuss Kashmir. Congress at this stage is just providing more reasons to never vote for the party, with the fact that it is now pledging to restore the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, will ensure that the party is never voted to power at the Centre.
