CPI-M: BJP exit from Kashmir will cause more instability

The BJP-PDP was an opportunistic alliance but the BJP pulling out of the coalition government at this point may push Jammu and Kashmir into “greater uncertainty”, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said in a statement.

It also stressed that the BJP could not wash its hands of the deterioration in the situation and of “deepening the alienation of the people”.

“The decision of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to withdraw from the coalition government with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir at this particular moment has the potential of creating greater political instability in the state. It signifies the total political failure of the BJP’s approach in the state,” the CPI-M said in a statement after the BJP broke off the coalition with PDP.

“This alliance was untenable since the beginning. It was an alliance between forces that never saw eye to eye on any issue but came together in an act of sheer opportunism to share the spoils of office,” it added. The CPI-M emphasised that the BJP was party to all decisions of the state government during the past three years and hence could not be absolved of any responsibility for “contributing to a further deterioration in the state and towards deepening the alienation of the people”.

It pointed out that the BJP, as a coalition partner, had promised the people of Kashmir a slew of confidence building measures and initiating a political process by way of a comprehensive dialogue with all stakeholders in the Kashmir Valley. “Neither of these two promises which were publicly announced by the Union Home Minister after the all-party delegation visited the Valley in September 2017 have been fulfilled. If they were sincerely followed u,p the situation could have improved,” the statement said.

It said the Central government “unilaterally” announced the ceasefire and later withdrew it. “Under these circumstances, plunging the state into greater uncertainty and the impending imposition of President’s rule may not help in addressing the issue of the deepening alienation of the people,” it said.