Illegal, Unconstitutional: NC, PDP On Move To Scrap Article 370
Leaders from NC and PDP, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, under house arrest, issued scathing statements.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti called the central government’s move to aborgate Article 370 ‘illegal’, ‘unconstitutional, and ‘unilateral.’
PDP’s Mufti: Is This The India We Acceded To?
Reacting to the news in a series of tweets, former chief minister of Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti said this move will make India an ‘occupational force’ in Jammu and Kashmir and and will have ‘catastrophic consequences in the subcontinent’.
She also called the government’s move ‘sinister’, alleging that it wants to ‘change the demography of the only Muslim majority state in India’, while also calling out those in the media who are celebrating the move.
Abdullah: ‘Our Darkest Apprehensions Have Unfortunately Come True’
In a statement shared by National Conference’s Omar Abdullah, the leader said the move to scrap Article 370 and 35A will have dangerous consequences in Jammu and Kashmir as the state’s accession was ‘done on the very terms enunciated in these articles’. He said, ‘our darkest apprehensions have unfortunately come true after the GOI and it’s representatives in Jammu and Kashmir lied to us that nothing major was planned’.
Abdullah also said the government has used ‘deceit and stealth’ to lay the grounds for the decision, referring to the huge movement of troops to Kashmir, imposition of a curfew, and the restrictions on the movement of political leaders in the valley over the last few days. Internet services continue to remain suspended in the region.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha today, Home Minister Amit Shah tabled the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Second Amendment) Bill 2019 to revoke Article 370 that grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The bill also proposed the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir to two Union Territories, Jammu & Kashmir (with a state legislature) and Ladakh (without a state legislature). The move to scrap Article 370 also means a move to scrap Article 35A which gave Jammu and Kashmir the power to define “permanent residents” of the state.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)