Article 370 abrogation proved to be good for J&K’s development: Athawale

Jammu, Feb 27 (PTI) The Centre’s decision to revoke Article 370 of the Constitution proved to be “good” as it strengthened development and “ended” terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said on Thursday.

There was a time when tourists were afraid of visiting Jammu and Kashmir but that has changed after the revocation of Article 370, the minister of state for social justice and empowerment said at a press conference here.

On August 5, 2019, the Centre abrogated Article 370, which accorded a special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The government also divided Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

“The (PM) Narendra Modi-led government has taken a lot of important decisions and the abrogation of Article 370 was a very big step which strengthened development in J&K, ended terrorism and generated employment opportunities besides establishing peace and paving the way for unfurling the tricolour,” Athawale said.

Earlier, people were afraid of visiting J&K but the situation changed after Article 370 was revoked and more than 2.5 million tourists visited the union territory last year, he said.

“The increase in tourism means more development for the region. It was a very good decision to revoke Article 370. Now the people want us to give the status of a state to J&K. When (Home Minister) Amit Shah announced the removal of Article 370, he also announced that J&K’s statehood would be restored at an appropriate time. Jammu and Kashmir will get the status of a state soon and all of people’s problems will be resolved,” he added.

The minister lauded the highest voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir in the assembly elections held last year.

“Though the alliance of the National Conference and the Congress came to power, it hardly matters to us as we are with the people and want the region’s development,” he said.

Asked about the rape of a 26-year-old woman in a bus at the busy Swargate depot in Pune, Athawale said such incidents are condemnable and heart-wrenching.

“We demand that the culprits behind such incidents be hanged,” he said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has already directed police to speed up the investigation and bring the culprit to book, he said.

“Society needs to come forward to counter such incidents which are increasing. The people behind such incidents should be boycotted as we are seeing atrocities being committed on even three to four-year-old children. It is the responsibility of parents and families to ensure that their children get a good education,” he said.

On the opposition to the “imposition” of Hindi in Tamil Nadu, Athawale said the introduction of Hindi in the southern state should not be opposed as it will harm the country’s unity and integrity.

“Hindi is… spoken by almost 90 to 100 crore people while state-level languages are restricted to particular areas. So there is no harm in introducing Hindi anywhere,” he said.

Athawale was on a visit to review the progress of centrally-sponsored schemes meant for the development of the union territory.

He expressed satisfaction over the implementation of government schemes for the welfare of various sections.