Senior BJP leader proposes separate Jammu state, says Kashmiris are ‘not loyal to country’
New Delhi: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and MLA Sham Lal Sharma has triggered a political row after asserting that the people of Kashmir are “not loyal to the country” and arguing that Jammu should be carved out as a separate state.
Speaking on January 19, Sharma said repeated unrest in the Kashmir Valley had disrupted what he described as the “naturally peaceful” atmosphere of Jammu. According to him, the creation of a separate Jammu state would allow the region to progress economically, socially and administratively, reported Deccan Chronicle.
Sharma claimed that Jammu contributes the bulk of the Union territory’s resources and alleged that it has faced decades of discrimination. He said nearly 80 per cent of electricity generation and a similar share of deposits in the Jammu and Kashmir Bank originate from Jammu. The BJP leader maintained that his comments reflected his personal views.
Following the remarks, the BJP leadership distanced itself from Sharma’s statements, clarifying that his views do not represent the party’s official stand.
The comments drew strong reactions from regional parties in Jammu and Kashmir. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah dismissed the idea of separating Jammu as “absurd” and said the regions of Jammu and Kashmir are historically and culturally inseparable.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah accused the BJP of having “ruined” Ladakh after its bifurcation and warned that a similar move in Jammu would repeat those mistakes. He said the proposal risked deepening communal and regional divides.
People’s Democratic Party president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti criticised Sharma’s remarks as being rooted in religious considerations linked to Jammu’s Hindu-majority character. She warned that dividing the region on communal lines would undermine the secular basis on which Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India in 1947, after rejecting Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s two-nation theory.
Mufti further alleged that such proposals would reinforce the notion that Hindus and Muslims cannot coexist within a single political unit and accused the BJP, RSS and Bajrang Dal of treating Jammu and Kashmir as a “laboratory” for divisive political experiments, the report said.
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RR beat RCB by six wickets in IPL
Guwahati (PTI): Blistering fifties by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel powered Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match here on Friday.
Sent in to bat, RCB rode on a fighting half-century by skipper Rajat Patidar (63) to post 201 for 8.
Virat Kohli (32), Romario Shepherd (22) and Venkatesh Iyer (29) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, Sooryavanshi (78 off 26 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls) shared a 37-ball 108-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform. Krunal Pandya (2/30) tried to bring them back with back-to-back wickets.
But Jurel, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (24), completed the task with another 68-run stand, with two overs to spare.
For RR, Jofra Archer (2/33), Ravi Bishnoi (2/32) and Brijesh Sharma (2/37) took two wickets.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63; Jofra Archer 2/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Brijesh Sharma 2/37).
Rajasthan Royals: 202 for 4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Dhruv Jurel 80 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/30, Josh Hazlewood 2/44).
