Just hours after Narendra Modi took charge as India’s prime minister, the Prime Minister’s Office came out with a controversial statement on Article 370, which grants a unique status to the disputed Kashmir region.
Article 370 specifies that except for Defence, Foreign Affairs, Communications and ancilliary matters (matters specified in the instrument of accession), the Indian parliament needs the state government’s concurrence for applying all other laws. Thus the state’s residents live under a separate set of laws, including those related to citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as compared to other Indians.
This unique status is granted to the disputed Jammu and Kashmir and similar protections exist in tribal areas of India including those in Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Nagaland.
“The process of repealing Article 370 has started. We are speaking to the stakeholders,” said senior PMO officer Jitendra Singh. “The BJP has won more than half of the seats from Jammu and Kashmir. So we will interpret this as an endorsement of the BJP’s stand. Article 370 is more like a psychological barrier,” he added.
The repealing of the article has been a poll promise of the BJP. The BJP has been opposing the special status for Jammu and Kashmir since very long. It had earlier claimed that it could not repeal the article during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government due to the lack of a majority.
Speaking to CNN-IBN, Jitendra Singh said, “Article 370 has done more harm than good. The youth of Kashmir has to be convinced about this. That’s why the honourable PM has called for a debate. Having a debate doesn’t mean we have deviated from what we promised. It just means convincing those who are not convinced.”
May 28, 2014: Omar Abdullah should be arrested for high treason for talking of secession from India and India’s CIA-appointed weakling government (Prime Minister and Cabinet) dismissed and arrested for countenancing treason.
May 27, 2014: I have said that India's conventional forces are liabilities, not assets. Conventional forces are worthless for destroying the United States. Taking care of the enemy United States will take care of all other enemies. In the past few years I have had India's nuclear forces emplace India's nuclear warheads in Washington, New York and other U.S. cities, ready to be exploded. Destroying Washington and New York, with a warning that additional U.S. cities will be similarly destroyed, with nuclear warheads already emplaced in them, if there is any retaliation or sign of retaliation, will immediately make India the supreme military and economic power in the world. IndiasLegitimateRulerSatishChandraDOTblogspotDOTcom
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