23 Sep : In order to express serious concern over the manner in which the All party Parliamentary Delegation visited the state recently,Sangarsh organized a press conference to register its reservations and dissatisfaction over its conduct.
Addressing the media persons, President of Sangarsh ,Mahesh Kaul said that, “The line of action adopted by the All Party Parliamentary Delegation became dubious the very moment when the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi said well before the departure of the delegation that ‘the genuine aspirations of the Kashmiris should be considered’, what she meant by that statement ?Was it a direction or guideline for the visiting delegation to act on certain basis and keep the area of influence limited? Was it an intentional guideline to accommodate the secessionist aspiration of the fundamentalist and theocratic elements who have brought J&K in general and Kashmir valley in particular to the brink of destablisation?The agenda of the delegation became vivid and clear when the leaders went in separate groups to meet the separatist leadership represented by Ali Shah Geelani,Mirwaiz Umar Farooq,Yasin malik,etc.What was the need to meet these people when they had boycotted to meet the delegation and instead sent their memorandum. It means that it was a well planned strategy of the delegation to meet the separatists in parts and pretend that it was not a unanimous decision. Even the Chief minister, Omar Abdullah has claimed yesterday that this meet with the separatists was part of the plan. The central leadership has taken the nationalists and minorities of the state for a ride.The visit of this delegation was to assuage the separatist feeling in the Kashmir valley and humiliate the nationalists .”
He further said that,”this was an adhoc gesture on part of the political leadership of the country and should be termed as the immature and mismanaged show which had hidden intent to soft peddle the fundamentalists. It has only acted as the morale booster for the anti national elements and exposed the Indian political establishment, giving an impression that something is cooking behind the scenes to dilute the Indian sovereignty over the state under separatist pressure.”
He said that,”the treatment given to the nationalist elements in Jammu by this delegation speaks volumes about its intentions. The majority of the of the nationalist elements were left out deliberately and brutally handled in thstreets of Jammu so that the real picture of the state of affairs is not revealed.Sangarsh strongly condemns the barbaric attitude and treatment meted out to the 1947 and west Pakistan refugees and kashmiri pandit refugees who were protesting for their genuine demands and wanted the delegation to listen to their demands as they have been the frontline victims of the hate campaign launched by those leaders with whom the delegation was eager to met. We express solidarity with these refugees who were treated inhumanly by the state administration to hide the reality of communal divide in the state.”
Mahesh kaul said that, ‘we appeal to the nationalist elements in India to exert their influence to warn the political establishment of the country regarding the repercussions that may arise if the central leadership is considering the repeal of the AFSPA as it will give the breeding ground to the anti national elements and allow them to regroup and drive the state to the last possible limit of exclusion of state from the national union.”
He said, “Central government needs to send a special team instead to look into the state of despondency and desperation of the 1947 refugees, west Pakistan refugees and the Kashmiri pandit refugees who are living the life of second class citizens. There is an urgent need and demand of the times to set up an enquiry commission to look into the forced exodus of the kashmiri pandits from the Kashmir valley in 1990.Above all there is great urgency to set up a high level commission to look into the political reorganization of the J&K state.Sangarsh strongly demands the setting up of Jammu state, Homeland with the union territory status in Kashmir for the kashmiri pandits,Union territory for ladakh and the permanent settlement of 1947 POK refugees”.
Mahesh Kaul was flanked by Nitin Sharma,Amit Gupta,Moneesh Gupta,K D Singh,Bansi Gupta and other activista of Sangarsh.
