NEW DELHI: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his maiden visit to Jammu and Kashmir since the Lok Sabha elections, Congress party posed six questions regarding the timelines for the restoration of full statehood to the Union Territory and the holding of assembly elections.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh took to X and questioned BJP for not holding elections in the region and raised concerns about the deteriorating law and order situation under Modi’s watch.
“As the ‘one-third’ Pradhan Mantri makes his maiden visit to Jammu and Kashmir since the Lok Sabha elections, six questions he should answer,” Ramesh wrote on X.
Here are the questions posed by Congress
- When will full statehood return to Jammu and Kashmir?
“Since 2018, the people of J&K have been denied any avenue to express their grievances. The region has become a bureaucratic fiefdom controlled by the BJP-RSS cabal. While claiming to have ended special status for J&K, the one-third Pradhan Mantri has in fact created an extra-special situation of a new and unique political system: one where the state has been downgraded to a UT, elections have been suspended, and all norms of constitutional morality violated. In his speech in Parliament on December 11, 2023, Home Minister Amit Shah said that full statehood to J&K would be restored at an “appropriate time”. Five years after being stripped of their statehood, the people of J&K still lack clarity on what the timeline for this return of statehood is. Can the one-third Pradhan Mantri give a straight answer to this key question: when will full statehood return to Jammu and Kashmir?” - Why is the BJP scared of elections in Jammu and Kashmir?
“The people of Jammu and Kashmir have been left without an elected government for the last six years. The last Vidhan Sabha elections were held in 2014 and four seats in the Rajya Sabha remain vacant because of the delay in holding assembly polls. The terms of 4,892 Panchayats and 316 Block Development Councils (2nd and 3rd tiers of Panchayati Raj) also came to an end on January 9, 2024. The blame for this suspension of democracy lies entirely with the Centre. As the Chief Election Commissioner clarified in March 2024, the one-third Pradhan Mantri’s Government failed to reconcile its own J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 with its own Delimitation Exercise, 2022 – preventing the ECI from initiating the electoral process. This weaponized incompetence appears to be deliberate: unable to win power through legitimate electoral means, the BJP has used this opportunity to control the levers of power for selfish gains. Several allegations had been made by various stakeholders within J&K that Government-awarded contracts are being given to a chosen few, in a well thought out policy of discrimination against locals. It is only the Supreme Court-imposed deadline of September 2024 that has forced the Center to conduct the polls now. Can the one-third explain this long delay in holding the elections? Why has he clung so desperately to power in a state where the people never chose to be led by him?” - Why has the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir deteriorated under your watch?
“The one-third Pradhan Mantri claims to have curbed terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir at all his public meetings. The mood on the ground in J&K, however, is one of anxiety. Since January 1st 2023, 35 of our brave security personnel and eight innocent civilians have lost their lives in the Pir Panjal Range (comprising the Rajouri-Poonch area) alone, in an area where there were no major incidents of terrorism between 2007 and 2014. In the last few weeks, it has spread even to neighboring districts that we considered largely peaceful: as evinced by the attack in Reasi on the 9th of June, the attack in Kathua on the 10th of June, and in Doda on the 11th of June. Infiltration from Pakistan is rising along the International Border, and a palpable sense of insecurity prevails across J&K. The one-third Pradhan Mantri, who has been busy accepting congratulatory messages, including from Pakistani PM, has been conspicuously silent even amidst this surge in terrorism. Why has his Government has failed to salvage the security situation in J&K? What is his vision to restore normalcy?” - Why has the Government failed to support Kashmiri Pandits?
“The BJP has exploited the misery of the Kashmiri Pandits in every election campaign. However, ten years after coming to power, the one-third Pradhan Mantri and the Home Minister have done absolutely nothing for the community and have not even held a meeting with the community’s representatives. In consultation with the community, Dr. Manmohan Singh’s Government had devised a 6,000-job employment package for Kashmiri Pandit youth to take up jobs in Kashmir Valley. For all the bluster of the current Government, that remains the last major intervention by the Union Government to rehabilitate the Pandit community, even amidst a nationwide social and political consensus for the community’s Gharwapsi. Does the one-third Pradhan Mantri view the community only as a talking point? Why has he neglected their interests over the last decade?”
- If the Union Government’s actions are popular, why do the BJP and its proxies keep getting rejected by the people of J&K?
When the BJP abrogated Article 370 to much fanfare in 2019, they repeatedly argued that the actions were popular among the people of Jammu and Kashmir. However, the one-third Pradhan Mantri refused to visit the J&K after 2019, until the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. The BJP refused to contest the Lok Sabha elections in the Kashmir Valley, instead implicitly supporting candidates put up by its proxies. However, all three proxies fared poorly, scoring a zero in the Lok Sabha and securing a lead only in one Vidhan Sabha segment. If the Union Government’s actions are popular, why do the BJP and its proxies keep getting rejected by the people of J&K?” - How much investment has Jammu and Kashmir actually garnered since 2019?
“When the BJP abrogated Article 370 to much fanfare in 2019, they repeatedly argued that the law was a hindrance to “development and progress”. In the three years since the new industrial policy was announced in January 2021, the Union Territory has received proposals worth 84,544 crore in as many as 42 industrial sectors. Till date, only 414 units have been registered and actual investment on the ground is just 2,518 crores. Although there was much optimism about the hospitality sector, only 87 crores of investment proposals have been received till now. Apart from J&K Bank, the only large-scale employer in J&K is the Chenab Textile Mills (CTM), which came to J&K in 1962, during Pandit Nehru’s tenure. After achieving quite little over the past decade, the one-third Pradhan Mantri is back in J&K to lay the foundation stone of projects worth 3,300 crores this time. But before he does so, can he answer: How many jobs has his Government created – in the public sector or in the private sector? How many investors from the rest of India have actually invested in J&K since 2019? How many PSUs has the Union Government set up in J&K? Can the one-third Prime Minister inaugurate a single facility that his Government has built in J&K?”
PM Modi attends ’empowering youth, transforming J&K’ event in Srinagar
PM Modi arrived in Srinagar on Thursday evening for a two-day visit during which he will unveil various development projects and participate in International Yoga Day celebrations at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC).
On Sunday, PM Modi will lead the International Yoga Day celebrations at SKICC, starting at around 6.30 am. He will address the gathering and participate in the CYP Yoga session.
Furthermore, PM Modi will launch the Competitiveness Improvement in Agriculture and Allied Sectors Project (JKCIP), valued at Rs 1,800 crore. This project will be implemented across 90 blocks in 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir, reaching out to 300,000 households and benefiting 15 lakh individuals.
The PM will also distribute appointment letters to more than 2,000 people recently appointed in government service. The foundation stone laying, inauguration, and launch of these projects aim to empower the youth and enhance the infrastructure in J&K.