The Union government has snatched away the very fundamental rights of Kashmiris by repealing Article 370, says CPI-M Central Committee Member Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami. They are denied what is rightfully theirs. The centre has been claiming repealing Article 370 has brought peace and tranquillity in Kashmir. In reality it is the opposite, the ripple effect is still there. The film Kashmir Files which is widely publicised by RSS and BJP has nothing to do with the realities of Kashmir, Tarigami added.
Stepping stone to Hindu Rashtra
Amit Shah has been claiming that the terrorism in Kashmir have been contained after the repeal of Article 370. But this is just a baseless argument. When Modi came into power in 2014, he claimed Sabka saath Sabka Vikas but that was only applicable to the rest of the nation, not Jammu and Kashmir. There were no efforts from the government to seek perception from Kashmiri about repealing Article 370. We even have lost connection to Delhi. This is indeed a stepping stone towards the establishment of Hindu Rashtra in India, which Modi and his disciples dream of.
Repression of opposition
To regain power in the centre Modi had conducted parliamentary elections but ignored them to conduct assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. There were various attempts to silence the opposition, even persecution of opposition leaders. We as a part of the Gupkar alliance want to reestablish basic constituent rights. Instead of having resourceful dialogues with us, the Union government has been repressing its existence.
Centre is moving forward with the constituency reorganisation; they have even increased seats in Jammu. This is indeed a doubtful action. The basis of reorganisation of constituent assembly is based on population. And they are claiming that in Kashmir, reorganisation is done according to the 2011 census. In that case, Kashmir has more population compared to Jammu. But Jammu has given more seats.
What the Gupkar alliance is propounding is that constituent reorganisation should be done rightfully in Jammu and Kashmir along with the rest of Indian states. The centre has been using central agencies like ED and CBI to silence the opposition. Right after repealing Article 370, we have approached the supreme court to demand justice. It has been three years. But no fruitful outcome has come.
Tricking masses by creating hoax
There is a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of Kashmiri. Kashmir files are one among them. Unfortunate things have happened to Kashmiri Pandits, there is no denial. Their exodus was indeed troublesome. But certain facts have either been omitted or twisted in the movie.
BJP Governor was in power during the exodus. But he had not taken any steps to protect Pandits. During that time even I have been a target of terrorists.
I had to migrate to Jammu to seek refuge in 1989. I stayed with a Pandit family. It was a challenging time not just for Pandits but for all of Jammu and Kashmir natives.
BJP has used the life of Kashmiri Pandits for their own electoral benefits. After they got elected in 2014 to till now they have not taken necessary action to rehabilitate them. Even when religious conflicts hampered India in 1947, Kashmir was rather peaceful. Gandhiji even appreciated the religious tolerance of the natives. But it was the centre's controversial and contentious policies which ultimately led to the hostile situation in Kashmir.
