Yes, we are communal, because we demand abolishment of Article 370: Sushma Swaraj’s 1996 speech that set the tone for ‘Naya Kashmir’

Share

Tweet

Share

Share

Email

Comments

Senior BJP leader and former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, who passed away on Tuesday night, had put a tweet even as late as Tuesday evening hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the government’s move on Jammu and Kashmir. This comes 23 years later, when on June 11, 1996, Sushma Swaraj, made a heartfelt speech on the floor of the Lok Sabha and talked about the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s long-term plan of repealing Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.

Hours before Swaraj passed away, she expressed her gratitude and hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for revoking the same article, saying “I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime”. Taking to Twitter in the evening, Swaraj said: “@narendramodi ji – Thank you Prime Minister. Thank you very much. I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime.”

In her famous speech of 1996, Sushma Swaraj slams the coalition government for toppling Vajpayee’s BJP that was the single largest party in the House. Swaraj then goes on to add that the BJP is often branded as “communal” and that is alright, because they want the abolishment of Article 370.

As the entire Lok Sabha roars applauding and also mocking the young BJP leader, Sushma Swaraj goes on to say, “Yes, we are communal, because we demand the abolishment of Article 370, yes, we are communal because we fight for the national flag.”

Later, in her speech, the former external minister went on to explain why the BJP had to step down and equated her analogies to the Ramayan and Mahabharat.

“When one Manthara and one Shakuni can keep the likes of Lord Rama and Yudishthir out of their right to rule, then if you take a look around this House, you’ll find many Manthras and many Shakunis opposing us. How can we stay in power? I suppose it (no-confidence motion) is the nature of Ramrajya and Surajya,” she said.

In a post on Monday, she had complimented Union Home Minister Amit Shah on his performance in the Rajya Sabha in introducing and passing the resolution on abrogating Article 370 and the bill bifurcating the state. The tweet came after Lok Sabha cleared the resolutions moved by Home Minister Amit Shah to abolish Article 370 and the bill to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.