New Delhi: Within hours of the Supreme Court upholding the abrogation of Article 370 on Monday, the opposition parties of the INDIA bloc entered a political minefield as the Congress distanced itself from the DMK’s position on Kashmir in the Rajya Sabha under the BJP’s sustained fire.
In an official statement, the Congress, the largest constituent of the INDIA bloc, reiterated the position taken by its working committee on 6 August, 2019 — a day after Article 370 was scrapped — that “Article 370 deserved to be honoured until it was amended strictly in accordance with the Constitution of India”.
Former Union home minister P. Chidambaram, reading out the statement at a press conference at the Congress headquarters, said the party “respectfully disagrees with the SC judgement on the manner in which Article 370 was abrogated.”
“We are also disappointed that the SC did not decide the question of dismembering the state to two Union Territories. The Congress has always demanded the restoration of full statehood. We welcome the SC verdict in this regard. We believe the election should be held immediately and there is no reason to wait till 30 September 2024,” Chidambaram said.
Barring the J&K-based National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which expressed major disappointment with the apex court’s ruling along with the Left parties, most other constituents of the INDIA bloc, including the Samajwadi Party, reacted cautiously, saying the judgement needs to be respected.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Congress MP Vivek Tankha appeared to take a stand which was more welcoming of the five-judge verdict of the SC. He said while Jammu and Kashmir should not have been downgraded from a state to a UT, “Jawaharlal Nehru had said in 1963 that Article 370 is a transitory provision, it’s a temporary provision.”
Former Congress MP Milind Deora also posted on X that he welcomes the SC verdict which “transcends politics”. The post Article 370 period has seen increased tourism, enhanced infrastructure and improved economic prospects in Kashmir, he said in a statement.
However, even as it largely managed to frame a middle-of-the-road response to the verdict outside Parliament, the Opposition found itself cornered it is the Rajya Sabha where the DMK not only stuck to its stance against the abrogation of Article 370, but also complicated matters by quoting Dravidian icon E.V. Ramasamy Periyar on self-determination.
The exact line, quoted by DMK MP Mohammed Abdulla while participating in the debate on the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, was expunged from the records of the House by Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
“Can we quote anything in this House? Can we quote to the extent of it being sedition, challenging our integrity, going against our Constitution, going against the judgement of the Supreme Court?” Dhankhar exclaimed.
Amid uproar, DMK MP Tiruchi Siva, who rose to defend Abdulla, gave more ammunition to the government benches to attack the Opposition.
“When he (Abdulla) spoke about abrogation of Article 370, you said it was against the Supreme Court order. If tomorrow, INDIA alliance comes to power and Article 370 is restored. After the Chinese aggression in 1963, we (DMK) gave up our then demand for separate Dravida Nadu. Later, we were very firm that the DMK is for the unity and integrity of this nation. We stood with the policy of state autonomy. Don’t try to give the DMK a separate colour. What is wrong in quoting Periyar?” Siva said.
Caught off-guard, the Congress sought to defend its coalition partner, with Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House Mallikarjun Kharge, and Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C.Venugopal, arguing that Abdulla’s remarks were covered under the principle of free speech.
“He quoted based on Periyar’s written speeches. You may agree or disagree, we may agree or disagree. You can expunge if a member’s remarks is against the business rules, constitution. He only quoted Periyar. Stopping him from speaking is undemocratic,” Kharge said
Venugopal said members have the right to criticise Supreme Court judgement as well.
But, the treasury benches latched on to Abdulla and Siva’s remarks and the diffidence of the Congress to put the Opposition on the backfoot.
Reacting to Siva’s statement, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was present to respond to the debate on the Bills which are already cleared by the Lok Sabha, questioned: “Is he spelling the agenda of the DMK that Article 370 will be brought back or that of the INDIA alliance?”
Shah also demanded to know if the Congress agrees with Abdulla quoting Periyar on self-determination.
Dhankhar said he was expecting Kharge to take a “serious view” of Abdulla’s remark which outraged “the spirit and essence of the Constitution.”
“This was an attack on the soul of Bharat Mata,” Dhankhar said.
Pushed to the wall, the Congress finally distanced itself from the words spoken by DMK’s Abdulla. “I want to say it clearly, the quote which has been used, we don’t support that quote,” Congress MP, and its communication in-charge, Jairam Ramesh announced on the floor of the House.
Wait-and-watch by other parties, too
Meanwhile, other INDIA alliance partners such as the TMC, which had spoken in different voices after the abrogation in 2019, and the RJD also adopted a guarded approach.
On Monday, TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Nadimul Haque, while speaking on the Kashmir Bills, did not specifically deal with the SC verdict, but tacitly criticised the Centre’s position by pointing out how Kashmir residents continue to suffer due to the lack of development in sectors such as power.
RJD MP Manoj Jha said the Kashmir Valley also needs “psychological healing.” He added that silence should not be construed as peace, which, he said, also requires “justice”. The socialist parties continue to point out that their ideological fountainhead Ram Manohar Lohia was a votary of Article 370.
The NC and PDP, which claimed that its leaders were put under house arrest ahead of the SC verdict, appealed to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to “not lose hope” and added that it was not the end of the road.
“This is not our loss. This is the defeat of the idea of India. This is the defeat of the idea under which the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir rejected Pakistan and joined hands with Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists of Gandhi’s India,” PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said in a video message.
In a separate video message, in which he also sought to establish that he was under house arrest, NC vice-president Omar Abdullah said while he was dismayed by the SC verdict, the political fight will continue.
“The BJP has been fighting to get Article 370 revoked since 1950. Where they met with failures in the court, they waged their fight politically. We will also continue to do that. Sometime in the future, we will be able to earn back what we lost in 2019,” he said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)