Constitution can’t be made charter for ‘azadi’, says BJP

Also criticises “internationalising” of Kashmir issue

BY Iftikhar Gilani
New Delhi

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday asked the government to spell out its long-term roadmap to restore normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir and explain if it is party to the brief the three-member panel of interlocutors are voicing, including the latest call by Radha Kumar to amend the Constitution to incorporate the Kashmiris' aspirations, including “azadi.”

“The Constitution of India is an important instrument both for Indian democracy as also for national integration and it can never be allowed to become a charter for incorporating the sentiments of Azadi,” party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman asserted at a press conference here.

She decried the interlocutors turning the “quiet dialogue” Home Minister P Chidambaram claimed to be pursuing for the last one year into a “soundbite unilateralism.”

Pointing out that the interlocutors have a self-determined terms of reference and are enlarging own mandate on daily basis, she said: “Chidambaram has been for the past one year a votary of quiet dialogue. Perhaps he needs quieter interlocutors.”

She said it is too much that the three interlocutors appointed by the government for a domestic solution of the Kashmir issue are internationalising it by commenting on daily basis about Pakistan’s involvement for a permanent solution.

“Whether India should discuss the Kashmir issue with Pakistan or not, and if so, when, is a matter to be decided on strategic considerations by the government of India and the Ministry of External Affairs. It is wholly outside the domain of domestic interlocutors,” she said.