Scrapping of Article 35A to hit Jammu most: Omar Abdullah

Maintaining that removal of Article 35A will hurt the interests of Jammu people the most, National Conference (NC) working president Omar Abdullah today hit out at BJP leaders for launching a misinformation campaign without knowing its consequences.
He said if the BJP was able to win the fight in a court through its proxies, before reaching Kashmir, businessmen and people from outside would settle in Jammu and Ladakh.
“Going by the present situation in the Kashmir valley, where locals are moving out and sending their children to different parts of the country for studies, no one will go there. It is not like that removal of Article 35A will snatch employment of Kashmiri youth and their land will be taken away. However, Jammu will be affected the most,” Omar said while addressing a party function here today.
“Big hotel chains will come and they will not go to Gulmarg, Sonmarg or Pahalgam first but they will buy land at Ladakh, Katra, Bhaderwah, Reasi and other parts of Jammu,” Omar said.
Talking to mediapersons after the function, Omar said it was a historic fact that Maharaja Hari Singh had introduced the state subject law in 1927 on the demand of a few people, who were land owners and Kashmiri Hindus to save their land and jobs, respectively. “The state subject laws were protected after the accession. These are historic facts and can’t be changed,” Omar said.
The NC working president said he had come to counter the propaganda of the BJP which was trying to divide people by saying that Kashmir was being benefitted by retaining Article 35A while Jammu and Ladakh were affected by it. “No region will be benefitted by the removal of Article 35A but the immediate brunt will be borne by Jammu,” he added.
He also rejected the notion that once Article 35A was removed, it would pave way for industrialisation in Jammu. “The lack of industrialisation is not because of the special status but because of the conflict. “Before 1990, there were industries in Kashmir and Jammu, but once the militancy started, the industry was affected as J&K was perceived to be unsafe destination for investment. There are other things also responsible for lack of industrialisation. We don’t have raw material, we have a very small market and we have a huge locational disadvantage,” he said.
Commenting on Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s statement of getting an assurance from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on protecting the special status, Omar said, “If the assurance has come from the PM, then the Central government will have to associate itself with the case on Article 35A and submit a counter-affidavit in the Supreme Court but they haven’t done it so far.”
Replying to a question on the alleged discrimination with women who marry outside the state, Omar said, “Domicile is determined by husband’s name after marriage in the country. J&K is no different. Before marriage, it is determined by father’s name and after marriage it is determined by husband’s name.”

Slams Separatists
NC working president Omar Abdullah on Monday hit out at separatists for muddying the water by jumping in for protecting the special status of J&K under the Constitution of India. “The Hurriyat Conference which doesn’t believe in the Constitution of India has nothing to do with Article 35A. Either you say that you believe in the Constitution and then say tampering is being done with it or you should keep quiet on the matter. The Hurriyat has the habit of getting into these issues and muddy the water. It was exactly the same on the GST. They divided the trading community in Kashmir and Jammu groups,” Omar said.