Former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan, who resigned from service in 2019 as a mark of protest against the “shutdown” of Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370, joined the Congress on Monday.
IMAGE: Kannan Gopinathan tweeted this photograph with Rahul Gandhi soon after announcing he was joining the Congress party. Photograph: Courtesy, naukarshah/X
Kannan Gopinathan joined the party in the presence of Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal and party leader Pawan Khera.
Kannan Gopinathan reasoned that his decision to join the party came after he realised that the Congress could make the right decision.
“I resigned (as an IAS officer) in 2019. One thing was clear at that time: the direction in which the government wants to take the country was not right. It was clear that I had to fight against the wrong… I travelled across 80-90 districts and spoke with the people; I met several leaders. Then it became clear that only the Congress party can take the country in the direction in which it should go,” he said.
Gopinathan further opposed the government’s action to “shut down” Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370.
“Abrogating Article 370 might be a decision of the government. But if you decide to shut down an entire state, jail all journalists, MPs and former CMs, shut down transportation, communication and internet, then is it right? This is a question not just for me but for all of us. Can this be right in a democratic nation? Should voices not have been raised against this? I raised that question and I stand by it even today,” Kannan Gopinathan said.
In August 2019, the central government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, repealed Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, effectively ending the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating the state into two Union territories — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The restoration of statehood remains a key demand from the regional political parties in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 and the reorganisation of the erstwhile state into two Union territories in August 2019.
