BJP launches campaign in Jammu against Kashmir package

JAMMU - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Jammu region has said it will oppose the central government’s proposed package on Kashmir as it would “appease separatists and demoralise patriotic forces” in the state.

The party’s state unit has launched a campaign against any concessions to the valley.

“The party activists will reach every nook and corner of the region and tell people of the negative aspects of the package,” BJP’s state unit president Shamsher Singh Manhas told IANS. “The (proposed) package would appease separatists and demoralise patriotic forces in the state.”

The party has started reaching out to people here, telling them that it would oppose any move to concede anything like amendment to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and withdrawal of troops from the valley.

The BJP has been organising street protests and rallies to denounce the demand for greater autonomy raised by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his plea for amendment to the AFSPA or its revocation from some districts of the state.

“This campaign would be further intensified,” Manhas said.

The BJP had been facing rough times in Hindu-dominated Jammu region, from where it won 11 seats in the 2008 assembly elections, for its failure to highlight the problems of the people.

The party came under sharp criticism for its silence during the all-party meeting in New Delhi Aug 10, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke of “autonomy” as a solution.

While the central leadership of the BJP decried the autonomy move, BJP legislature party leader Chaman Lal Gupta observed that the issue never came up in the meeting.