Reveal names of foreign account holders: Advani

Speaking to reporters after hoisting the national flag at his residence, the BJP leader attacked the government for not revealing the names of account holders.

“Government gave a detailed statement on Tuesday and maintained that it does not want to hide anything but then it should also be said it does not wish to reveal anything,” Advani said. He was referring to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s statement on Tuesday where the Minister said a study group would be formed to look into the issue of bringing back Indian black money abroad.

“Why is the government not revealing the names of these account holders to the Supreme Court,” former Deputy Prime Minister asked.

“Germany has said it has four more lists of such account holders in which some Indian names also figure but nobody has sought these names,” Advani said. He recalled that three years ago he had raised the issue of bringing back Indian black money and all political parties had then supported the idea.

Linking the BJP’s plan on flag hoisting at Lal Chowk to party ideologue Shyama Prasad Mookerjee’s Kashmir campaign, Advani said the agitation brought to the fore the issue of “fully integrating” J&K with the rest of the country.

“Those who have been arrested in Jammu and Kashmir have brought this issue before the whole country. I think our Yuva Morcha and our two leaders in Parliament (Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley) have gone there and what they have done with a lot of courage has brought this issue and that of unifying the whole of Kashmir to the forefront,” Advani said.

Advani recalled the movement launched by BJP ideologue Shyama Prasad Mookerjee “to unify the whole of Kashmir with the rest of India” and NDA regime’s amendment of the Flag Code, allowing all Indians the right to hoist the tricolour on all days.

“It is a result of this that we have started `this agitation so that we can say that we have unfurled the flag at Lal Chowk,” he said.

In the early 1950s, Mookerjee had launched an agitation against the permit system to visit Jammu and Kashmir and a separate flag and Constitution for the state. He was arrested after his entry into J&K and died while in jail.