‘Kashmir has become a laboratory and a testing ground for all forces’

Militancy, civilian killings continuing despite the move on Article 370, says senior J&K politician and CWC member Tariq Hameed Karra

The Congress Working Committee (CWC), in a strongly worded political resolution, expressed concern over the in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and linked it with events such as China’s aggressive posture, infiltration attempts by Pakistan and Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. Senior J&K politician and CWC member, Tariq Hameed Karra, spoke on the security situation and that created a political storm. Edited excerpts:

I don’t have to clarify nor do have I to give any explanation. Since you have asked something which is already in the media, I will repeat what I said. We had different set of agendas for the meeting and among them, the serial killings in J&K. When the idea of partition was conceived on religious lines, three States became the bone of contention: Jammu and Kashmir, Junagadh and Hyderabad. In an informal discussion, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel suggested to Jawaharlal Nehru that Junagadh and Hyderabad can be negotiated in lieu of J&K. To this, Pandit Nehru said it will have national and international ramifications and he didn’t want India labelled as a theocratic state like Pakistan. Maybe Sardar Patel got convinced and there was unison. As the other States got integrated into the Union, so was J&K. That’s all I said, which is a historical fact.

The whole incident is being given a different colour. There are issues like inflation, and essential commodities, killings of farmers, and a recent report saying hunger levels are going up and even the value of our passport has gone down. So, the BJP wanted to make an issue and give a new narrative. My counter to their vilification charge is that it is they who have vilified the Sardar by removing his name from a stadium in Gujarat and renaming it as Narendra Modi stadium.