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LUCKNOW: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday spoke of a "major surrender" by the United Progressive Alliance Government to Pakistan on Jammu and Kashmir.

Rejecting Pakistan's "joint administration" proposal on Kashmir, Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani told the party's national council here that this would amount to "renouncing India's sovereignty" over the State. The country "cannot allow" the UPA to disregard the unanimous parliamentary resolution on the subject.

He said that when Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf talked about his four-point formula for resolving the Kashmir problem, no one in India took it seriously. However, all those who had anything to do with internal security were "shocked" that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had welcomed the proposal.

That formula, he said, would amount to giving independence to the Indian part of Kashmir. Even Nehru, who had "blundered" by referring the Kashmir issue to the United Nations, did not hesitate at all to take stern action against the (then Chief Minister) Sheikh Abdullah when he came to the conclusion that plans were afoot to make the State independent.

"Ready to sacrifice"

Later, in his concluding remarks, party president Rajnath Singh added that all workers of the party would be "ready to sacrifice their lives happily" for the cause of Jammu and Kashmir.

Mr. Singh also announced a number of party programmes for the next five months.

Car and motorcycle rallies would be organised by the BJP in every district of the country from January 16 to February 16, 2007 to focus on price rise, farmers' suicides and internal security issues.

Human chains

On February 8 and 9, the women's wing would form human chains in district and State headquarters to protest against rising prices.

For a month from March 14, farmers' gatherings would focus on agricultural issues while Scheduled Castes would be organised to protest against lack of reservation for them in minority-controlled educational institutions. This would be followed by a month-long `jail bharo' campaign.

Afzal issue

The party would also collect one crore signatures demanding the hanging of Mohammad Afzal, convicted in the Parliament attack case. These would be submitted to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

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