New Delhi: Miffed at the "illegal
detention" of its senior leaders during the Ekta Yatra, BJP
on Thursday said it is mulling initiating legal action against the
Jammu and Kashmir government on the issue.
"Section 144 Cr PC was used to extern three leaders.
They were kept in illegal confinement at the Jammu airport for
six hours. Then they were physically abducted and taken
outside Jammu and Kashmir. We are mulling over taking legal
action against the state," a senior BJP leader said.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and
her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitely were arrested by the
state government when they tried to enter the state on Tuesday
to proceed to Srinagar to hoist the national falg at Lal
Chowk.
The principal opposition also questioned how
prohibitory order could used to confine a person for carrying
the national flag on Republic Day.
"The senior BJP leaders were in Jammu. Had they
reached Srinagar, may be prohibitory orders could be taken
against them. Why was Jammu declared a prohibitory zone?" the
senior leader asked.
The party has also taken note of the fact that JKLF
leader Yasin Malik and his supporters were allowed to reach
Lal Chowk in Srinagar before their arrest while this was
not done in the case of BJP leaders.
"This is nothing but psychological surrender to the
separatists by the Jammu and Kashmir government and the
Centre," a senior BJP leader alleged.
The "hijack" of a train carrying BJP supporters from
Maharashtra - which was stopped at Ahmednagar and sent back-
has also angered the party, which had chartered the train for
Rs 64 Lakh.
However, the party is upbeat about the Ekta Yatra as
it seems to have gained politically from the event.
"It is a big gain for us as it starts a fresh debate
about our ideological agenda," a senior leader said, adding
that this would benefit the party.
Another gain is that this Yatra has brought a new
resurgence and enthusiasm in the party, senior leaders
claimed.
The principal opposition feels the manner in which the
Yatra culminated has generated more acceptability of the party
and its stand on the issue.
Had the state government arrested most of the leaders
at Jammu and allowed some youth wing leaders to go to Srinagar
and hoist the national tricolour at the BJP state headquarters
there, the political gains would not have been much, feel
party leaders.
BJP leaders confessed that they did not expect the
Omar Abdullah government to allow any BJP leader to
unfurl the flag at Lal Chowk.
BJP leaders also conceded that the Yatra had helped
the party in sending across a message to its electoral
constituency in Jammu and Kashmir as well as the rest of the
country.
PTI
