J&K politicos won’t be detained for more than 18 months: Minister
Says leaders are in VIP bungalows with facilities
JAMMU :Union minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday said Kashmiri politicians detained following the abrogation of Article 370 will not be kept in confinement for more than 18 months.
While addressing a gathering during a rally on eve of the 125th birthday anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh, he said the leaders were not arrested but they were living as “house guests” and were even provided with CDs of Hollywood movies and bread of their choices.
“Political leaders have been kept in VIP bungalows. We have even given them CDs of Hollywood movies. Gym facility has also been provided to them. They are not under house arrest. They are house guests,” Singh said.
Singh also took a dig at Congress leader Karan Singh for abandoning the Maharaja in the last days of his life. He, however, did not take his name.
Recently, Congress leader Karan Singh, who is the son of late Maharaja Hari Singh had urged Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik to declare the birthday anniversary of the former monarch as a holiday.
Singh said,“Those who could not give due credit to Maharaja Hari Singh are today demanding that he should be remembered for his contribution. Especially in his (Maharaja) difficult times, on June 10, 1949, when he was about to depart for Mumbai, none of his family members came to see him off. There were only few members of Paraja Pasrisha and Captain Dewan Singh.”
“A pall of gloom descended in Jammu region on April 26, 1961, when the news of Maharaja’s death came in. People of the region were in quandary as there was no other place to mourn Maharaja’s loss, as his family was not keen on mourning his demise,” he said.
“People who were a part of the Congress or were at higher positions in the last five decades did not build or name anything after the maharaja. Today, these people are admitting that they were incapable.
They have no right to speak now. Only the BJP could take a decision like the abrogation of Article 370. It is only Prime Minister Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party that will do justice to the Maharaja,” he added.
Minister of state for finance and corporate affairs Anurag Thakur, who was also present on the occasion, said the abrogation of Article 370 was his dream that has come true.
Thakur said he was in Jammu during the 2011 Tiranga Yatra, when BJYM activists were stopped at Lakhanpur bridge from hoisting the Tricolour in the state and the activists swam and crossed the river in January to reach their destination.
He said people of the state were prevented for 70 years to take benefits of their rights.
He said attempts by Pakistan to rake up the Kashmir issue at the global stage has fallen flat as the world is standing with India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.