BJP to move court on ‘illegal actions’ against Ekta Yatra

NEW DELHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Thursday it was planning to move court against the “illegal actions” taken by the Jammu and Kashmir and central governments to thwart the party’s Ekta Yatra.

A senior BJP leader said here the party paid the railways Rs.64 lakh by cheque for the rail coaches to carry the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists from Bangalore to Jammu for the march, but the train was quietly turned back at night in Maharashtra.

“It was like hijack of an aircraft. We are making inquiries about matters of jurisdiction. We will also look into medical reports of activists who were beaten by the Jammu and Kashmir Police before deciding our legal action,” the senior leader said.

Taking exception to the manner in which the Jammu and Kashmir government treated leaders who had gone to Jammu by air to take part in public meeting to coincide with Ekta March, he said section 144 was used to extern people.

BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Ananth Kumar returned to Delhi Wednesday after they were released by the Jammu and Kashmir Police after arrests before the BJYM’s march to Srinagar.

“The party leaders were kept in illegal confinement for six hours at Jammu airport and later physically abducted and taken outside the state,” the leader said.

Taking strong exception to the arrest of BJYM activists in Srinagar by Jammu and Kashmir Police while they tried to go to Lal Chowk in Srinagar, he said “a public order under Section 144 cannot be used to prohibit carrying the national flag”.

He said Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah “over-eacted in panic”.

The BJP leader termed the central government’s stance “inexplicable”.

He said the Ekta Yatra had energised the party cadre and brought to the centrestage the ideological debate about the government’s Kashmir policy.

“The party was very strong on the ideological debate (on Kashmir) and focus on it is good for the party,” he said.