New Delhi: India on Monday slammed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for its “unwarranted” comments on the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir and asked the grouping to refrain from carrying out its “communal agenda” at the behest of one country, in an oblique reference to Pakistan.
India’s strong reaction came after the OIC criticised New Delhi over the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir.
“We are dismayed that the OIC secretariat has once again made unwarranted comments on the internal affairs of India,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
“As in the past, the Government of India categorically rejects the assertions made by the OIC secretariat on the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir which is an integral and inalienable part of India,” he said.
Bagchi was responding to media queries on the OIC statement on the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The OIC should refrain from carrying out its communal agenda vis-a-vis India at the behest of one country,” Bagchi said.
The delimitation commission, tasked with redrawing parliamentary and assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, notified its final report earlier this month.
The completion of the delimitation exercise allows for the conduct of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The erstwhile state has been without an elected government since June 2018.
As per the delimitation commission’s report, the union territory will have 90 assembly segments, of which 43 will be part of the Jammu region and 47 in Kashmir.
While the assembly constituencies in Jammu, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s stronghold, have increased from 37 to 43 with the addition of six new seats, the number of seats in Kashmir has gone up by one seat, from 46 to 47. This is despite the fact that Jammu’s population is only 53 lakh, around 15 lakh less than the Kashmir Valley’s population of approximately 68 lakh, according to the 2011 Census.
The Gupkar Alliance, a conglomerate of the National Conference and People’s Democratic Party among five regional political parties based in Kashmir led by Farooq Abdullah, criticised the exercise, saying the commission has “worked beyond its mandate” to propose “sweeping changes” which will “alter the demography” of J&K.
(With PTI inputs)
