Until Kashmir issue is resolved, no power on earth can touch Article 370: Farooq Abdullah
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday stressed that revoking Article 370 and Article 35-A will be equivalent to a constitutional coup. He went on to add that Article 370 is essential, unassailable and will remain in effect despite the “uneducated rants” of certain people.
While speaking at a party convention in Handwara area of Kupwara district, the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said, “Keeping in view the special circumstances (at the time of the accession of J&K to India), Article 370 was added to the Constitution of India. The Article will remain as it is until the final resolution of the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is not reached to.”
“So until the issue is solved, no power on earth can touch the article 370. The uneducated rants of those who want to obliterate Article 370 are far-fetched, fanciful and devoid of any genuineness,” added Farooq Abdullah.
The former J&K CM further added that if Article 35-A is annulled then all the successive presidential orders will get annulled automatically. He explained that it was the then Maharaja who gave the state subject rights to the people of the state in 1927.
He then shifted aim to the BJP-led Central government saying, “They are well aware of the fact that until National Conference remains in the state it will painstakingly protect the interests of the state. They are frightened of us.”
“Anxious and unnerved, New Delhi has employed various henchmen in the state to frustrate the efforts of National Conference towards protecting the special status of our state,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh urged the people who are running the movement in Kashmir to sit and talk with all the stakeholders so that a conclusion can be reached.
However, he also asserted that the problem of Kashmir will get solved and no power in the world can stop it. “If somebody does not want a solution through talks then we know very well how a solution can be found,” said the union minister.
