Article 370 Remarks: BJP Seeks NIA Probe Against Digvijay Singh

The BJP in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday lambasted senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh over his purported remarks on revocation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, with a leader of the saffron party demanding a probe by the NIA into the Congress veteran’s activities and state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accusing the Sonia Gandhi-led party of speaking the “language of Pakistan”.

Another BJP leader alleged that Singh has betrayed the country and his remarks come in the category of “anti-national act”.

During a clubhouse conversation, Singh purportedly made the remarks to a person, who the BJP said was a journalist of Pakistani origin.

On Saturday, BJP’s IT Cell chief Amit Malviya shared a clip of Digvijay Singh’s purported chat on his Twitter handle, claiming that in the clubhouse chat, the Congress leader was talking about reconsidering Article 370 in Kashmir.

“Democracy was not there in Kashmir when they revoked Article 370. Then ‘insaniyat’ (humanity) was not there because they put everyone behind bars and ‘Kashmiriyat’ is something which is basically the fundamentals of secularism. Because in a Muslim-majority state, there was a Hindu raja (king) and both worked together. In fact, the reservation in Kashmir was given to Kashmiri Pandits in government services. So therefore, the decision of revoking Article 370 and reducing the statehood of J&K is extremely sad decision and the Congress party would certainly have to have a relook on this issue,” Digvijay Singh is allegedly heard saying in this audio with a screen shot that shows several faces.

Reacting to this, MP CM Chouhan said the Congress had committed a sin by imposing Article 370 in Kashmir.

“Kashmir is the crown jewel of India. It is an integral part of the country. It was the Congress, which committed the sin of imposing Article 370 in Kashmir. Congress speaks the language of Pakistan,” Chouhan said.

He added that Sonia Gandhi should clear the stand of the Congress party on this issue.

“She should answer, and if they do not answer, then it will be assumed that they completely agree with Digvijay Singhji’s views,” he said.

Chouhan said that Digvijay Singh will never be successful in his intentions.

“No matter how hard you try, your plans will never be successful. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh, this country is one, and will continue to be one,” he said, while accusing the Congress’s Rajya Sabha MP of fuelling separatism and disturbing peace in Kashmir.

State BJP president V D Sharma said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) should investigate the phone calls of Digvijay Singh, and questioned the involvement of a Pakistani journalist in this chat.

Sharma also said that he will soon write a letter in this regard to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

“NIA should investigate all the activities of Digvijaya Singh. The act of involvement of Pakistan’s journalist in the chat should also be investigated…I will write a letter to the union home minister in this regard,” he said, adding that the Congress veteran is in the habit of doing this.

Sharma said Digvijay Singh has made a “fashion” of attacking the sovereignty of the country for appeasement and vote bank politics.

Reacting to the audio, Madhya Pradesh Medical Education Minister Vishvas Sarang said that it is unfortunate that Digvijaya Singh gave this statement in a clubhouse chat, in which the Pakistani journalist was present.

“Digvijay Singh has betrayed the country by making this statement. This remark over Article 370 comes in the category of anti-national act(s),” Sarang said.

He said that Digvijay Singh and other Congress leaders are trying to defame India on the international stage.

“Nobody can change the decision of revoking Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Facing flak, Digvijay Singh posted a tweet saying, “Illiterates cannot understand the difference between shall and consider.”

Talking to PTI, a senior State Congress spokesperson said this was a national issue and the party has yet not issued any guidelines to speak on this subject.

“We can’t give a reaction on Singh’s alleged statement on this issue as of now,” he said.

Meanwhile, former minister and Congress MLA from Raghogarh, Jaivardhan Singh, son of Digvijay Singh, in a tweet said, “The next election will not be fought on Article 370 but on the issues of rising inflation, unemployment and the devastation caused by COVID-19 in the country.”