Article 370 has to go, says Ram Madhav
New Delhi: Reiterating the saffron party’s stance on the contentious Article 370, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav on Saturday said the Centre is committed to repealing the provision which provides special status to Jammu and Kashmir, ANI reported. “As far as Article 370 is concerned, our ideological commitment is well-known. It has to go lock stock and barrel as the Home Minister (Amit Shah) clearly mentioned yesterday in Parliament,” Madhav told the news agency.
“Our government is committed to resolving all outstanding issue in Kashmir. We are moving in that direction,” he added.
While addressing the Lok Sabha on Friday, Home Minister Amit Shah had said the provision was termed “temporary” in nature and “not permanent” in the Constitution. “As far as the question of 370 is concerned, you must know that it is mentioned as temporary in the Constitution and not permanent. And this was done in agreement with Sheikh Abdullah,” he said.
Madhav also said that former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was responsible for the situation in the state. “Whatever Amit Shah said is historical truth. The trouble in Kashmir is a creation of the first government of independent India under Pandit Nehru. When it was introduced by former PM Nehru, he himself had said that it was temporary and would erode on its own,” he asserted.
However, the BJP leader said, the removal of Article 370 may take time since the action involves some procedure.
The BJP has always maintained that it stands for the abrogation of Article 370 and it believes the provision is an impediment to the development of J&K. The party had even mentioned this in its manifesto before 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Agencies
KV Online
