Hitting back at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for advocating repeal of special status for Jammu and Kashmir, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said on Saturday the relationship between the Union and the State would be over if Article 370 of the Constitution is revoked.
“Jaitley must understand this. It is not an easy thing to say. If you scrap (Article) 370, your relation with Jammu and Kashmir will be over,” Ms. Mufti said while speaking to party workers at her residence here.
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Mr. Jaitley had on Thursday advocated repeal of J&K’s special status and said Article 35A, which restricts non-permanent residents from buying property in the State, is “constitutionally vulnerable” and was hampering economic development of the State.
The former Chief Minister said Article 370 was a bridge between the Union and the State and if the special provision of the Constitution was revoked, then New Delhi would have to “renegotiate” its relationship with J&K.
Rethink on union
If Article 370 is revoked, Jammu and Kashmir would have to rethink whether it wanted to stay with India, she said. “Because if you have given us a special position in the Constitution of India and you break that, then we will have to rethink whether we would even want to stay with you without conditions,” she said.
Earlier, National Conference leader Mohammad Abdullah Wani and Awami Insaf Party chief Ghulam Ahmad Sheikh Saloora joined the PDP.
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