Take strongest possible action against Arundhati Roy: BJP

CHENNAI: The BJP today demanded that the UPA government take the strongest possible action against writer activist Arundhati Roy for her "seditious" remarks on Kashmir and asked the Centre to spell out its policy vis-a-vis Kashmir and the separatists.

"When there is an elected government in Kashmir as the result of free and fair elections, how can someone say the state is not an integral part of India? Its nothing but sedition," senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the country's unity and integrity cannot be allowed to be challenged in the name of freedom of expression and asserted that the crisis-hit state was an integral part of India.

"Parliament had adopted a unanimous resolution that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Nobody is above the law, however big she or he may be. We demand the strongest possible action against Roy," Naidu said.

Such incidents advocating separatism "should be nipped in the bud" he said and blamed the "inconsistent policies of the Congress-led UPA," for the present problems.

"The BJP demands a clear-cut policy from UPA vis-a-vis Kashmir and the separatists," Naidu said, adding any inaction on the part of the government will embolden further separatist elements.

To a query on BJP senior leader Ram Jethmalani supporting Kashmir interlocutors on their comments on Pakistan's role on the issue, Naidu said they were his "personal views and we (BJP) dont subscribe to it."