PIL seeking R-day on Nov 17 in JK 'factually incorrect': BJP

Dismissing the PIL seeking for celebrating November 17 as the Republic Day in Jammu and Kashmir as violative of the spirit of the Constitution, BJP today said the contention itself is erroneous because the constitution of J&K came into force only on 26 January 1957.
"We dismiss the contention in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in J&K High Court as mischievous, absurd, factually incorrect and violative of the spirit of constitution," BJP National Executive Member & J&K Chief Spokesperson Dr Jitendra Singh told reporters here today.
A petition was filed in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court yesterday seeking directions to the state government to observe November 17 as the state's Republic Day.

Abdul Qayoom Khan, a former Forest officer, filed the PIL seeking directions to the government for celebrating November 17 as the Republic Day of the state.
J&K Chief Spokesperson said PIL, which seeks to celebrate November 17 as its Republic Day because it was on this day in 1956 when people of the state adopted their Constitution, is factually incorrect.
He said, "First of all, the contention itself is erroneous because the constitution of J&K came into force only on 26 January 1957 and secondly, the Republic Day on 26 January is observed to commemorate the constitution of India which has precedence over the constitution of J&K and the constitution of J&K itself acknowledges this fact."

The PIL is deliberately prompted by certain vested interests in the wake of a countrywide debate currently going on about the merits and demerits of Article 370, he said.
He added that the timing as well as the motive behind the PIL vindicates the widely held view that Article 370, instead of serving as a bridge between the state and the rest of India as claimed by certain political parties like the National Conference (NC), has in fact provided ground for separatist and semi-separatist tendencies to grow.