Author:
Publication: Rediff.com
Date: August 14, 2008
URL: http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/aug/14amar6.htm
As Jammu and Kashmir continued to be on the
boil, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani alleged on Thursday
that the United Progressive Alliance government was lacking seriousness to
resolve the problem and accused it of 'discriminating' against Jammu and 'alienating
the nationalist opinion.'
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
Advani demanded the restoration of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board,
saying that the state government's decision to cancel the allotment of land
is a 'violation' of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court orders and amounts to
contempt of court.
Noting that he was writing the letter with
a 'deep sense of disappointment', the leader of the opposition said: 'We urge
the government to restore the original Cabinet order rather than adopt a do-nothing
policy.'
'The court orders need to be complied with.
The mandate of the legislation has to be obeyed,' the BJP leader said.
Accusing the UPA government of being 'out
of depth' and 'not very serious' to find a solution to the crisis, he contended
that the problem in Jammu and Kashmir 'is essentially nationalists versus
the separatists.'
Batting for the cause of people of Jammu amid
allegations that BJP was behind the agitation for Amarnath land, Advani said
the recent events have shown that the people of the region are 'now determined
to assert in order to claim their fair share in the matter of both governance
and development.'
The BJP leader alleged that the people of
Jammu division have 'suffered from gross discrimination' as Census is not
fairly and regularly done and delimitation is deferred. 'There is discrimination
in the matter of public employment, disbursal of funds and development of
region." he said.
'They (people of Jammu) are told on each occasion...if
fairness is shown to the people of Jammu, the psyche of the valley will be
hurt,' he added.
'There is huge sense of hurt and injury in
Indian public opinion which has resulted in the nationalist opinion being
alienated because the separatists have to be pleased,' he said, adding 'This
is the first time in history that the government has succeeded in even alienating
nationalist opinion.'