Asserting that abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A was aimed at achieving national integration and giving back the fundamental rights to the people of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav said his party had been saying that it was against those Articles since the days of Bharatiya Jana Sangh and it took ‘one Modi’ to bring the curtains down on them in just 72 hours.
Mr. Ram Madhav pointed out that it was because of these Articles people were deprived of their rights and those who sought employment or planned to do business were discriminated against. The last major investment made was by the Dalmia Group in 1954. India was not willing to let the development of Kashmir be obstructed any longer, which was the reason why Parliament scrapped the Articles and enacted the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, with the support of all parties except the Congress.
Delivering a talk on Article 370 with the theme ‘Historic Correction of Himalayan Blunder’ here on Wednesday, he said the Congress, which accused the BJP of getting the impugned Articles scrapped arbitrarily, should remember that the CWC had passed a resolution against it in 1949 but the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru got it “inserted” in the Constitution as he had given a promise to the then PM of the then princely State, Sheikh Abdullah.
‘No threat from Pak.’
Referring to fears that Pakistan might do something if India repealed the Articles, Mr. Madhav said there was absolutely no need to apprehend such a threat while insisting that Pakistan has always fomented trouble across the Line of Control and India has enough experience in dealing with it.
There were many other negative implications of Article 370 (it was supposed to be a temporary piece of legislation) which India could not afford to continue, Mr. Madhav said and took pride in the fact that 13 member countries of the United Nations Security Council refused to interfere in the matter by categorically stating it was India’s internal affair.
BJP State president Kanna Lakshminarayana, MP Y.S. Chowdary, and MLCs Somu Veerraju and P. Raghu Varma were present.
