Indian Punjab’s Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has termed the revocation of Article 370 as “totally unconstitutional”, criticising the manner in which New Delhi acted, Indian media reported.
“The Constitution of India has been rewritten without following any legal provisions. Such a historic decision should not have been taken and pushed through in this arbitrary manner,” he said in a statement.
“This will set a bad precedent as it would mean that the Centre could reorganise any state in the country by simply imposing President’s rule,” ThePrint.in quoted Singh as saying.
Singh also prohibited any kind of celebrations or protests in the state on the grounds that that may create disharmony.
Singh said no effort was made to evolve consensus on this matter, adding that given the sensitivity of the issue, any decision should have been taken after following due process.
He said the Presidential order had effectively bypassed the parliamentary requirement for a two-thirds majority through a constitutional amendment.
He further said that none of the stakeholders were taken into confidence, and there was no discussion with other political parties preceding New Delhi’s unilateral decision.
“The BJP is using its brute majority to bulldoze democratic and constitutional norms,” Singh said.
According to ThePrint.in’s report, Singh has increased security for the around 8,000 Kashmiri students in Punjab and has directed government officials to meet them and talk to them personally.
