Article 370 row: Advani hits back at Omar

Against the backdrop of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah slamming him on the issue of revocation of special status to the state, senior BJP leader L K Advani today advised him not to use words like "cheating and deceiving" and clarified that his party has always been opposed to Article 370.
In his latest blog posting, Advani said even the Congress party- other than Jawaharlal Nehru and a few other leaders- were strongly opposed to giving a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Advani quotes from a biography of Sardar Patel to argue that even he was against Article 370 but kept his views in the background out of his regard for Nehru.

"Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir state, has every right to disagree with the BJP on matters relating to J&K.
"But I would advise him never to use offensive language and words like 'cheating' and 'deceiving' in that context," Advani said on his blog.
Advani had recently said Article 370 should be revoked.

Abdullah had responded to this without naming Advani and slammed him for raising the "false boggy of revocation" of the provision.
Holding that it is "highly improper" for anyone to use offensive words like "cheating" in the context of BJP's stand on J-K, Advani said his party has "not only been unequivocal, forthright and consistent from the time Jana Sangh (BJP's predecessor) was born in 1951 till today, but it is an issue for which the Party's Founder - President laid down his own life".

Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, who founded the Jana Sangh was arrested in Jammu and Kashmir in 1952 when he tried to enter the state without a permit which was required then to go to there.
He died- allegedly under mysterious circumstances- during his incarceration.
"Since our very first all India session at Kanpur, we have been championing complete integration of J&K State with India," Advani said.