Jammu and Kashmir BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh on Tuesday questioned the role of former chief minister Sheikh Abdullah in the death of Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee.
Chugh said Mookerjee had opposed the idea of a separate Constitution, flag and political system for Jammu and Kashmir, which, he alleged, Sheikh Abdullah was seeking to establish under Article 370.
He said the absence of an independent inquiry into Mookerjee’s death pointed to a conspiracy that, according to him, remains unexplained to this day.
Chugh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken decisive steps, including the abrogation of Article 370, to fully integrate Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country.
He also criticised the Abdullah family, alleging that they had denied the people of J&K opportunities for economic progress and development.
The BJP leader was speaking after paying tributes to Mookerjee on his death anniversary.
Mookerjee died under mysterious circumstances on June 23, 1953, in a Srinagar jail after being arrested for entering Jammu and Kashmir without a permit. He founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951, and the abrogation of Article 370 and full integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India remained among the party’s principal objectives.
