Jaitley’s remarks put BJP in a spot ‘Boundaries cant be redrawn’ FRIDAY, 12 DECEMBER 2014 Srinagar : On December 3, the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in Srinagar that Pakistan must understand that boundaries with India cannot be redrawn as Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of this country. The statement of this BJP bigwig is opening can of worms for the saffron party here. According to the experts, the statement of the Jaitley is tantamount that GoI has given up its claim over 78000 sqkms of Kashmir’s land, administered by Pakistan and 40000 sqkms controlled by China. Interestingly, the GOI has been terming the Kashmir under Pakistan’s control as the ‘occupied territory’ and has raised concern for its merger with the Indian. The questions that are emerging at present raise fingers over Jaitley’s remark. Also there are 21 seats reserved for the territorial constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir that were controlled by Pakistan in 1947. The statement of the union Finance Minister that boundaries cannot be withdrawn is being seen by the political pundits as a hint that once BJP gets into power, will the reserved seats at LA be withdrawn? Pertinently, the Legislative Assembly was initially composed of 100 members, later increased to 111 by the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir (Twentieth Amendment) Act of 1988. Of these, 24 seats are designated for the territorial constituencies of the state that were taken by Pakistan in 1947. These seats remain officially vacant as per section 48 of the state constitution. These seats are not taken into account for reckoning the total membership of the Assembly, especially for deciding quorum and voting majorities for legislation and government formation. Hence, the total contestable and filled seats of the assembly are presently 87. The Kashmir valley region has 46 seats, the Jammu region has 37 seats and the Ladakh region has 4 seats. Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PAK) is the the narrow, southern part, 250 miles (400 km) long, with a width varying from 10 to 40 miles (16 to 64 km). Gilgit–Baltistan formerly called the Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) – the much larger political entity to the north of AJK with an area of 72,496 square kilometres (27,991 sq mi). It was directly administered by Pakistan as a de facto dependent territory, i.e., a non-self-governing territory. However, it was ostensibly granted full autonomy on August 29, 2009. Jaitley remarks also draw flak from the political parties here with the separatist parties terming it a statement far from reality. Chairman Hurriyat (G), Syed Ali Geelani rejecting the statement of Arun Jaitley said stubbornness of India is main hurdle in resolution of Kashmir dispute. “I advise him (Jaitley) to go through pages of history. Indian leaders had promised to resolve Kashmir issue according to their aspirations, however on ground the situation has not changed,” said Geelani. Geelani said Kashmir issue cannot be resolved through might and only viable solution lies in the resolutions passed in United Nations. “Implementation of UN resolutions is imperative for Kashmir resolution and all parties are bound to accept the verdict of people, said Geelani adding, “It is fundamental right of people of Jammu and Kashmir to decide about their political future and it is their discretion whether they vote for Pakistan or like to be part of India; let people decide their fate, said Geelani. “If that is the case the Government of India should not be afraid of holding referendum in Kashmir. India can’t always divert the attention from the issue by terming Kashmir an integral part of India,” said Hurriyat (M) Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Mirwaiz said higher voter turnout can’t be seen as an aspiration of people as “it’s mainly related to administrative issues.” “Such statements of GoI indicate that they are not serious to resolve Kashmir issue. If BJP is sincere to solve Kashmir issue then they have to accept the reality of its (Kashmir’s) dispute,” said Mirwaiz.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 07:40:51 +0000
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