MT News Service
Jammu, June 22:
Vice President Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party, Yudhvir Sethi has said that the greatest tribute to Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee is the abrogation of Article 370 as he fought against it tooth and nail sacrificing his life for the nation in 1953. He said that it was the Prime Minister led BJP government that fulfilled the dream of the late leader Mukherjee. Sethi was speaking during a function to distribute saplings to the BJP East Mandal team headed by its President Praveen Kerni for further distribution among the Booth Presidents and party workers. These saplings are meant for plantation in connection with death anniversary of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee on June 23. Kuldeep Khandari, Prabhari East Mandal and General Secretary Jammu district unit besides a large number of party workers were present on the occasion. As per press statement issued to mercury times, the senior BJP leader said that keeping up with the decision taken by the Party high command, Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party will celebrate the sacrifice day of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Ji by planting trees and holding meetings at all the booths across the Union Territory. He said that for ensuring smooth conduct of programmes the in-charges appointed in this regard will have to shoulder great responsibility. He informed that multiple awareness programmes will also be conducted on the day with main focus on the need for timely vaccination against the deadly Corona Virus besides highlighting the dire need to follow the COVID-19 SOPs CAB with utmost sincerity and strictness. Yudhvir Sethi said that nationalist section of the society in Jammu and Kashmir holds Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in high esteem as he was strongly opposed to Article 370, seeing it as a threat to national unity. He fought against it inside and outside the parliament. He said that Mukherjee raised his voice strongly against this provision in his Lok Sabha speech on 26th June in 1952 terming the arrangements under the article as Balkanization of India and the three-nation theory of Sheikh Abdullah by granting J&K its own flag along with a prime minister whose permission was required for anyone to enter the state. Sethi recalled that Mukherjee came to visit Kashmir in 1953 and observed a hunger strike to protest the law that prohibited Indian citizens from settling within the state. However, because of the prevailing permit system, he was not given permission and was arrested on 11 May at Lakhanpur while crossing the border into Jammu and Kashmir following which he died as a detainee on 23rd June 1953 achieving supreme sacrifice for the nation. Sethi asserted that BJP ensured that his sacrifice did not go waste and finally abrogated Article 370 and 35-A which is the greatest tribute to this great leader of India.
Among others who were present included Vipin ji, Suresh Bharti, Rajinder Sikka, Subash Dogra, Saroj Gupta, Anuradha Sharma, Dinesh Varmani, Veneet Gupta, Veney Sharma, Sardar Harvinvinder Singh, Vishav Partap Singh, Ajeet Jogi, Sudhir Anand, Sandeep Dogra, Gorav Bajaj and Swarn Singh.
