PM SUPPORTS STATUS QUO FOR ARTICLE 370, SAYS MEHBOOBA
CLEARING THE AIR J&K CM claims no threat to J&K special status after meeting PM
NEW DELHI Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday who she said assured her of no fidgeting with Article 370, which grants special status to her state.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of a debate on Article 35A of the Constitution, which was added to Article 370 in 1954 by a presidential decree, and is being challenged in the Supreme Court.
Mufti is fighting growing calls from her ally BJP to abrogate the law, which empowers the J&K legislature to define the state’s “permanent residents” and their special rights and privileges.
“Discussions on 35A have a negative impact on Jammu & Kashmir, it should not happen. The basis of our agenda of alliance is that status quo of 370 has to be maintained. None of us can go against that,” said Mufti.
The J&K BJP had upped the ante with its spokesperson Virendra Gupta on Thursday saying time had come to bid a farewell to Article 370 and Article 35A as they created a “separatist psyche”. In New Delhi, Mufti also referred to Kashmir choosing to remain with India, despite being a Muslim majority state, indicating that New Delhi must accommodate the demands of the people to retain the special status.
“The idea of India has to accommodate the idea of J&K,” said the CM after meeting PM in his Parliament office.
“The situation is normalising but people think our identity can be in danger. So the message that J&K is crown of India should be reiterated,” she said.