Congress supported scrapping Art 370, but not the way it was done: Manmohan Singh

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the Congress was not opposed to scrapping Article 370 and had voted in its favour in Parliament. He said his

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the Congress was not opposed to scrapping Article 370 and had voted in its favour in Parliament. He said his party believed that Article 370 that granted special status of Jammu and Kashmir was temporary, but they were opposed to the way it was scrapped by the BJP government.

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“The Congress believes that Article 370 is temporary, but if a change has to be brought about, it has to be brought in with goodwill of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We are opposed to the way it was removed,” said Singh, at a press interaction followed by his talk on the economy organized by the Maharashtra Congress unit.

The Congress has been split over its stance on Kashmir, with some leaders like former Mumbai chief Milind Deora and Jyotiraditya Scindia supporting it, while former president Rahul Gandhi and senior leader Gulam Nabi Azad consistently slamming it as abuse of power. The party has shied away from making its stance clear on the issue, which the BJP has consistently highlighted as a poll plank ahead of the state polls in Maharashtra and Haryana.

Singh, who interacted with the media at a function organized by the Maharashtra Congress in Mumbai, spoke on a wide range of issues, including Congress’s stand on Article 370, Bharat Ratna for Veer Savarkar, the debate over the National Citizen Register as well as Enforcement Directorate case against Patel.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday termed the Opposition leaders “shameless” for questioning BJP leaders for bringing up the issue of Kashmir in the Maharashtra polls. He had also said that those who question Article 370 are the same who have abused and denigrated Veer Savarkar. When Singh was asked about Congress’s views of the BJP promising a Bharat Ratna for Savarkar, he said: “Indira Gandhi had issued a postal stamp to commemorate Savarkarji. We are not against Savarkar, but we are not in favour of the Hindutva ideology he stood for. As far as the issue of Bharat Ratna goes, as we are not in power, the issue will be settled by the incumbent government with the committee (that screens nominees).”

Singh’s views on Savarkar also seem to be in dissonance with a section in the Congress. Former party president Rahul Gandhi is facing a defamation case filed by Savarkar’s kin, for allegedly referring to the latter as a “coward”. There’s also a case against the Congress for deriding Savarkar on Twitter. Congress’s Manish Tewari had also recently remarked that the NDA should confer the award on Nathuram Godse, instead of Savarkar.

“Why does the NDA/BJP government want to confer Bharat Ratna on Savarkar, why not Godse,” Tewari had tweeted.

“There is a clear difference of opinion within the Congress over Savarkar or scrapping of Article 370. But, so far because of that, the Maharashtra Congress has been mum on the issue, even while the BJP has made it into a poll plank. So Dr Singh’s comments in a way are welcome as he has at least articulated the Congress’s stance,” said political analyst Abhay Deshpande.

The former prime minister also said the Enforcement Directorate has more powers and teeth than before and one hopes that it will not be used to settle political scores. When asked about the ED case against Patel, Singh said, “The rule in our country is that you are innocent until proven guilty. It is hoped that political vendetta will not be used to settle political scores and our justice machinery will provide justice to Patel.”

Currently, both Patel and NCP chief Sharad Pawar are facing ED probes. About the Opposition’s criticism that the Congress did not take the nationalist stance to further their vote bank politics, Singh retorted that the Congress did not need a certificate of nationalism from anyone.

The former prime minister also slammed the way the government was carrying out the National Register of Citizens exercise and its proposed Citizen Amendment Bill. He said that in Assam, 19 lakh people were identified as foreigners, and while the BJP thought they will all be

Muslims, 12 lakh are Bengali Hindus. “

The BJP government, at the same time, is bringing a citizen amendment law to ensure Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Christians get protection in our country, if they are prosecuted. So, we are going to have a legislation in Parliament that discriminates on the basis of religion,” said Singh.