SHILLONG: Opposition Leader Mukul Sangma has lamented that the abrogation of Article 370 applicable to Jammu and Kashmir was done by the BJP-led government at the Centre without taking the people into confidence.
Speaking at a function to remember former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 75th birth anniversary at Congress Bhawan on Tuesday, Sangma said it was Article 370, which had convinced the then ruler of Jammu & Kashmir to join the Indian Union.
“The people who are not aware of the history of India, and the prevailing situation in subcontinent during the Independence, have been blaming the Congress leaders of those days, in order to gain political mileage. They have been defending the recent steps initiated by them, which were taken without taking the people into confidence”, Sangma said.
He also remembered the contributions of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, who, according to Sangma, had laid the foundation of a strong United Indian ‘Union of States’.
Sangma urged the party workers to talk to people about the contributions of the party, so that the opponents are deprived of the space to spread false and malicious campaign not only about the party but about its past and present leaders.
He advocated that the people should stay connected with the glorious history of the nation.
While paying tributes to Rajiv Gandhi, Sangma recalled his contribution not only to the nation but to the global community as a whole.
He lamented that the political opponents were trying to fool the people by unleashing mischievous campaigns and in the process they were fooling themselves.
Apprehensions
MPCC president Celestine Lyngdoh expressed apprehensions that the special privileges provided by the Indian National Congress for the protection of the land, culture and identity of the tribal people, could one day be taken away, in order to satisfy the vast majority.
The party MLAs, MDCs and leaders of the frontal organisations and senior members of the party paid tribute to Rajiv Gandhi.
