Apni party is BJP in Kashmir following RSS agenda: Muzafar Shah

Srinagar: Senior politician Muzafar Ahmed Shah Saturday accused Jammu Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) of being hand in glove with BJP and dancing on their tunes.

“Apni Party is BJP in Kashmir, following RSS agenda. The leaders of this party had given a nod and agreed over abrogation of special status before its abrogation,” Shah, who is senior vice president Awami National Conference told news agency Kashmir News Trust.

He said when separatists and main-stream leaders were arrested, languishing in detention centres after the abrogation of special status, only the leaders affiliated with Apni Party were roaming freely.
“BJP is using the leaders of Apni Party and they are getting used,” he said.

In response to a question, Shah said the Simla Accord of 1972 clearly states that both India and Pakistan will resolve all the disputes including Kashmir. “When Kashmir is a dispute, how come it is the integral part of India? Omar Abdullah said Kashmir is integral part of India and it is his personal opinion,” Shah said.

He said technically and legally, the sentence ‘Kashmir is an integral part of India’ was added in the Constitution of Jammu And Kashmir under section 3 at a time when Prime Minister of Jammu Kashmir Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah was put into prison. Bakshi Ghulam Muhammad ratified the conditional instrument of accession and got the ‘integral’ sentence added into the Constitution of Jammu And Kashmir. This was done when resolutions about Kashmir were in force in United Nations. These resolutions are still there. Here we have UN office and if Kashmir is integral part of India, then what UN is doing here,” Shah said adding this is a legal clarification that he has given.

In response to a question, Shah told KNT that people of Ladakh are mourning now and demanding tribal status. “They are now realizing that Article 370 and 35A protected their culture, economy, language, landscape and now to protect these elements Ladakh Hill Development Council is demanding implementation of Article 371. The BJP MP who celebrated after the abrogation of special status is now wailing,” he said.

Shah also questioned government decision of barring PDP from holding meeting in Srinagar.

“When you are allowing BJP and Apni Party to hold political meetings, why then PDP is being barred,” he said and termed Gupkar Declaration as a historical one. “All Kashmir centric parties except Apni Party are supporting this declaration. (KNT)