Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday accused the Narendra Modi-led government of doing vote-bank politics over Article 370, which guaranteed special Status to Jammu and Kashmir, and asserted that the Opposition would continue to fight against the move.
Addressing a press conference in the Parliament complex, Mr. Azad said the BJP government had “cut off India's head and weakened the country.” August 5 would be written in black in India's history, he alleged.
Mr. Azad, however, didn't clearly spell out if the Congress plans to challenge this in the Supreme Court. He charged the Rajya Sabha Television with blacking out Opposition protests inside the Upper House.
“The NDA has cut off India's head and the BJP is responsible for weakening India...People of Jammu and Kashmir and the people of India -- from Srinagar to Kanyakumari, from Sikkim to Gujarat -- will fight against this. All the secular parties will fight this and will stand with the people of the State,” he said.
“We had never dreamt that the NDA would go to this extent of finishing off the identity and existence of J&K." Article 370 was the thread that not only bound the three regions -- Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh - but also with the rest of India,” he said.
“I make this allegation that they are doing this to get votes... If there was one provision that acted like a thread and bound every region then it was Article 370. There were provisions for all three regions and religions,” he noted.
“Whenever there was a terror attack, the people of Jammu and Kashmir fought back, mainstream political parties and their leaders fought and so did our defence forces. In one stroke, the BJP, drunk with power and to get votes has undone everything,” he added.
