It is a “murder of democracy,” DMK president M.K. Stalin said on Monday on the Centre’s decision to remove the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution.
“It is highly condemnable that the ruling AIADMK [in Tamil Nadu] also has supported the move. It’s better the party renames itself as All India Bharatiya Janata Party,” he told reporters.
Mr. Stalin urged the Centre to put on hold the President’s notification amending the provisions of Article 370 effectively removing the special status granted to the State and The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill 2019 that sought to bifurcate the State into two Union Territories. The decision was shocking and raised concern about the direction in which the country was going.
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Mr. Stalin, however, reiterated that the DMK had an unshakeable faith in India’s security and sovereignty and took a patriotic stand. It had extended support during challenges to the nation’s security such as the war with China, battles with Pakistan and the Kargil intrusion.
“We never bothered whether the country was ruled by the Congress or the BJP. But the DMK has always opposed abrogation of Article 370. It was firm that the special status for Jammu and Kashmir should not be dispensed with,” he said.
It was highly condemnable that instead of addressing pressing issues such as financial crisis and unemployment, the BJP-led government had abrogated the special status to Jammu and Kashmir. And it had happened at a time when there was no elected government in the State, he pointed out.
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“The decision of the BJP government has naturally raised the question whether it was actually taken in the interest of the nation’s security. The government’s decision proves that it has ulterior motives since it has not consulted the leaders of the political parties [in the Valley], kept them under house arrest, cut off communications and created an emergency [like situation],” he alleged.
At a time when the BJP government was facing the demand for granting more power to the States, its decision to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir and confer them the status of Union Territories clearly showed that it had deviated from the path laid by the Constitution, he noted.