PM Modi terms abrogation of Art 370 ‘watershed’ moment; Cong says BJP doesn’t respect ‘Kashmiriyat’

New Delhi, Aug 5 (PTI) On completion of five years of the abrogation of Article 370, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday described the step as a watershed moment in the nation’s history that started a new era of progress in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The principal opposition Congress criticised the BJP’s policy for the region, saying it neither respects ‘Kashmiriyat’ nor upholds ‘Jamhuriyat’.

The removal of Article 370 that gave special rights to Jammu and Kashmir had been part of the BJP’s core agenda.

Modi assured the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on Monday that his government would keep working for them and fulfil their aspirations.

He said the move to abrogate Article 370 meant that the Constitution was implemented in these places in letter and spirit, in line with the vision of the great men and women who made the Constitution.

“With abrogation came security, dignity and opportunity for the women, youth, backward, tribal and marginalised communities who were deprived of the fruits of development. At the same time, it has ensured that corruption, which plagued Jammu and Kashmir for decades, has been kept at bay,” the prime minister said.

The Modi government had on this day in 2019 annulled Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir state was also bifurcated into two Union territories.

The government also scrapped Article 35A which was conceived exclusively for the “benefit” of Jammu and Kashmir through a Presidential order issued in 1954. It empowered the Jammu and Kashmir legislature to define the erstwhile state’s ‘permanent residents’ and their special rights and privileges.

Home Minister Shah said the abrogation of Article 370 ushered in a new era of empowerment for the marginalised sections and strengthened grassroots democracy in the region.

He said the region’s youth have driven socio-economic growth and cultural revival, making the Narendra Modi government’s efforts to foster peace and comprehensive development a grand success.

“Today marks five years since the historic abrogation of #Article370 and 35A under PM Shri @narendramodi Ji’s leadership. This transformative decision has ushered in a new era of empowerment for marginalised sections and strengthened grassroots democracy in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh,” he wrote on X.

The home minister, who tabled the bill in Parliament on August 5, 2019, for the abrogation of the controversial articles, also thanked the prime minister for this landmark decision and reaffirmed the pledge to advance the region’s aspirations and transformative progress.

Meanwhile, the Congress demanded that elections in Jammu and Kashmir must be held according to the Supreme Court-set deadline of September 30.

Party chief and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that reality is starkly different from what is claimed by the BJP and the central government.

“BJP’s policy on Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh neither respects ‘Kashmiriyat’ nor upholds ‘Jamhuriyat (democracy)’,” Kharge said in a post on X.

“The Modi government had claimed that this move would help to fully integrate Jammu and Kashmir, boost the economic development of the region and prevent terrorism and separatism. However, the reality is starkly different,” he said.

Since 2019, there have been 683 fatal terror attacks, resulting in the martyrdom of 258 security personnel and the loss of 170 civilian lives, the Congress chief said.

Notably, 25 terror attacks have occurred in the Jammu region since PM Narendra Modi’s third oath, claiming the lives of 15 soldiers and injuring 27, he said.

Kharge also claimed that targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits have become a norm in the past few years.

A staggering 65 per cent of government department posts in Jammu and Kashmir remain vacant since 2019, he said.

The unemployment rate in Jammu and Kashmir stands at 10 per cent, with an alarming 18.3 per cent youth unemployment rate, he said.

Despite the introduction of the New Industrial Policy in 2021, a mere 3 per cent of investments have materialised on the ground, Kharge said.

He further claimed that 40 per cent of projects under the PM’s Development Package, 2015, remain pending.

“Jammu and Kashmir’s net state domestic product (NSDP) growth rate has declined from 13.28% (April 2015-March 2019) to 8.73% post-2019,” he said.

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi said the abrogation of Article 370 was good neither for the country nor for democracy.

Participating in a debate on the demands for grants for the Union Ministry of Fishing, Animal Husbandry and Dairy in the Lok Sabha, the Srinagar MP termed the abrogation as “kala karnama (black act)”.

Kharge said the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh yearn for normalcy, a sentiment they conveyed to Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

“We demand that elections are held according to the Supreme Court set deadline so that people can elect their own representatives, secure Constitutional rights and put a full stop to this mechanism of being ‘ruled by bureaucracy’,” he asserted.

The Indian National Congress stands firmly with the people of these regions, which are an integral part of India, he added.

The next assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be the first since the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution were abrogated and the erstwhile state was divided into two Union Territories in 2019.

Last December, the Supreme Court directed the poll panel to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30.