‘J&K statehood to be restored once normalcy returns’
CHANDIGARH: The statehood of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) will be restored once the situation becomes stable there, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary Ram Madhav said on Sunday.
Madhav made the statement while defending the abrogation of Article 370 in the state, amid strong criticism of the Narendra Modi government’s policies by Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari on the third day of themilitaryliterature Festival.
Senior journalist Manoj Joshi and former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief AS Dulat were also present during the session titled ‘Article 370 and the death knell of terrorism’.
Madhav maintained that there was ‘nothing unconstitutional’ about the manner in which Article 370 was abrogated. “Everything was done in a transparent manner,” he said.
“All people will get their political rights. It has just been three months and not three or 10 years. All political dissenters will be let out soon. On August 5, when the article was abrogated, around 2,500 people were taken into preventive custody but now, only around 100 of them remain in the custody,” he added.
Tewari said, “The constituent assembly, a sovereign body elected by J&K residents, had unanimously brought out Article 370. J&K never signed the Constitution (national), so it was allowed to enact a separate Constitution which specifies India’s relation with the state. The state’s Constitution has now been abrogated.” He added, “Just because the head of the Article says it is a transitional provision, it is not necessarily so. The state assembly has to be constituted before bringing any change, but it was suspended at the time when the Article was revoked.”
“The calm in Kashmir is the calm before a storm. The Valley is a tinderbox and may go up into flames anytime,” he said.
Madhav said, “The constituent assembly that formulated Article 370 was illegal. Why was no such assembly formed in other states? An illegal provision has been removed in the most legal way.”
STATE OF QUIET DISOBEDIENCE: DULAT
Former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief AS Dulat said, “The people in Kashmir are waiting out the situation at the moment and are in a state of quiet disobedience.
Madhav said, “The people of Kashmir are looking forward to lead a life without Article 370. Its abrogation has tackled the feeling of separateness and uniqueness in the Valley.”
Concurring with Dulat, Joshi said, “There is a strange calm in the state. The Centre may restore the calm by its tactics of shock and heavy deployment of forces, but it is untenable.”