Exclusive: KN Govindacharya, former BJP leader, on Kashmiri Pandit issue and BJP's stance back in 1990s

'The Kashmir Files' has, of late, grabbed quite a few eyeballs with its portrayal of the horrors endured by the Kashmiri Pandit community during their exodus from the valley back in 1990s. Speaking to ETV Bharat's Rakesh Tripathi, KN Govindacharya, former RSS pracharak as well as BJP leader, explained the saffron party's reaction to the episode at the time.

New Delhi:With 'The Kashmir Files' having hit silver screens across the country, allegations have recently surfaced against the BJP, accusing it of mutely spectating and supporting the-then Central Government from outside during the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits back in 1990s. To get a clearer picture, ETV Bharat spoke to KN Govindacharya, a prominent BJP leader from the time and one of the key strategists of the saffron party.

Asked about the allegations against BJP that it was providing support from outside to the Central Government in 1990, when he was the general secretary of BJP, and why didn't BJP withdraw support to VP Singh's government at that time, Govindacharya said that it was more of a humanitarian crisis than a political matter as BJP preferred to help the migrant pandits who were running out of Kashmir. "People were running from there (Kashmir), coming to Delhi, so it was necessary to receive them, give them shelter, secure their possessions. For your information, let me tell you that another BJP general secretary, Kedar Nath Sahni, was made the head of this whole operation. He has worked day and night for two years in this work, without saying a word about it, not even once mentioning his works to the journalists. He made full use of his resource mobilizing capacity," he said.

On why BJP did not withdraw its support to send a message even though it could have carried on with his relief work for Kashmiri pandits, he said the political situation at that time was "different". "We were supporting from outside. Our support or non-support had no significant impact on the government. What we could do was to participate in the discussion in the House, to express our opinion, and that is exactly what we did."

"Other than that, what could we do outside? The only option was to withdraw support. The political calculations were also to be done. If you withdraw your support, there were enough people in the Opposition to take advantage of it. Who wanted to keep VP Singh as Prime Minister? Even Devilal and Chandrashekhar used to have their reservations. After VP Singh, Chandrashekhar was also there. In such a situation, our withdrawal of support would have meant a coup. This was not a prudent move. And what would have happened to him, if we had withdrawn support? There would have been President's rule. Who was the president? So politically prudent is art of the best possible," he added.

Govindacharya opined that in those difficult circumstances, the right course was to extend all possible help to the Kashmiri Pandits in their rehabilitation. "You should also discuss who did the most work on his rehabilitation. After the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, they should be asked who helped them here," he said.

On Ram Mandir and withdrawing of support to Rath Yatra vis-a-vis not withdrawing support to the government at the time of exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, Govindacharya said: "The issue of Ram Mandir was the subject of identity of the whole country and Jammu and Kashmir was also included in it." Asked if BJP was weighing its profit and loss, he said: No, it is not a matter of profit or loss. In the political conditions of that time, giving relief to Kashmiri Pandits was the first thing, politics could come later. The subject of Ram is a matter of identity of the country, it was never a political issue."