BJP rally stopped at Jammu; Jaitley, Sushma arrested

MToday News

New Delhi, Jan 25:  Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley are among 500 BJP workers who’ve been arrested after their Ekta Yatra crossed the one-kilometre bridge that has one end in Punjab and the other at Lakhanpur in Jammu and Kashmir.

 

Before moving across the bridge in a rath, Ms Swaraj and Mr Jaitley addressed a marathon four-hour rally at Madhopur in Punjab.

"Crossed the bridge," tweeted Ms Swaraj, posting a few minutes later, "We’ve been stopped."  Courting arrested, Mr Jaitley and Ms Swaraj gave detailed statements to the process from the door of the BJP rath.

"This is a panic reaction by the J&K government," said Mr. Jaitley. "The flag will definitely fly at Lal Chowk in Srinagar tomorrow," declared Ms Swaraj.


But Lal Chowk has been declared out of bounds by the government which wants to minimize tension in the fragile area. In 1948, this is where Jawaharlal Nehru announced a plebiscite for Kashmir. The separatists have announced a counter-march to take on the BJP.  

Ms Swaraj and Mr Jaitley were evicted to Madhopur late last night after a five-hour enforced stay at the Jammu airport. They landed on a chartered flight at 3:20 pm yesterday. The local administration greeted them with the news that they would not be allowed to leave the airport for Jammu city, where they were scheduled to hold a rally this morning.

For several hours, the BJP leaders protested on the tarmac. Ms Swaraj shared her predicament with a steady shower of tweets. Around 6 pm, Home Minister P Chidambaram called Mr Jaitley and asked him to return to Delhi. "I spoke to Shri Arun Jaitley and Shri Omar Abdullah. I told Shri Jaitley that he and his colleagues had made their point and that they should not defy the orders of the State Government which was the best judge to decide whether there was a threat to law and order and public peace. I requested them to return to Delhi. The BJP leaders were also offered an opportunity to address a press conference at Jammu airport and, thereafter, leave Jammu & Kashmir. Regrettably, they turned down the offer."

The BJP leaders refused, but were moved into a VIP lounge at the airport. At 9 pm, they were moved in separate cars out of the airport. Ms Swaraj, on twitter, explained, "The state administration told us we are being taken to the jail."

Instead, a huge convoy zipped down the highway, video cameras recording each BJP leader’s car separately. Three hours later, Ms Swaraj and Mr Jaitely found themselves involuntarily crossing the Punjab border into Madhopur.

Mr Jaitley said today that the prevention of the BJP yatra by the Centre and state governments is "total psychological surrender to separatists." He also stressed that till last evening, when the Home Minister phoned him at the Jammu airport asking him to fly back to Delhi, the Central government had made no effort to talk to the BJP about its plans for its Srinagar yatra. "What the government did by diverting trains and expelling leaders amounts to hijack," he said. "The state government and Centre worked in tandem to set an unprecedented example. I hold the Prime Minister responsible - as he heads the government which is denying basic rights."

The J&K state government has sealed the border with Punjab. Lakhanpur - the entry point into J&K - has turned into a near fortress.

Ms Swaraj says that if her party is kept out of Jammu and Kashmir, they will sit on a dharna at the border till tomorrow morning.

The Home Minister continues to throw his weight behind Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. "The state government has made it clear that it would not allow the BJP leaders to cross the bridge connecting Madhopur and Lakhanpur and enter Jammu & Kashmir. The BJP leaders should respect the orders passed by the State Government. It would be most unfortunate if the BJP leaders defy the restrictions placed by the State Government or deliberately cause a breach of the peace."

 

Courtesy: NDTV