Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU Dec 27: Describing rhetoric on the abrogation of Article 370 as anti-national, Provincial President National Conference Devender Singh Rana on Friday said that this special provision is a conscious measure incorporated in the Constitution to strengthen the bonds of Jammu and Kashmir with Indian dominion.
“While Article 370 serves as a bridge between the State and the country, the permanent resident law is a steel frame that stands guarantee for maintaining and preserving the special and distinct identity of the three regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh”, Mr Rana said while winding up a day-long debate on this important proviso at a workers meeting at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan this afternoon.
Mr Rana dared the critics of Article 370 to get engaged in a productive debate on this provision and prove how this is detrimental to the interests of the people of the State. He said deliberate attempts are being made to vitiate the atmosphere by creating misgivings about Article 370 and 35 A. In this context, he dwelt in detail on the merger of princely states into Indian dominion and also referred to the special circumstances of Jammu and Kashmir that led to incorporation of Article 370 in the Constitution.
He took BJP head on for communalizing politics and said National Conference will not allow its designs to succeed in Jammu and Kashmir. “We are inheritors of the great legacy of Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah that has been nurtured by Dr Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah”, he said while asserting that this spirit will continue to guide the people of this state towards attainment of their political destination.
Speaking on the occasion, Vice President National Conference Rattan Lal Gupta assailed BJP for pursuing polarizing politics and vowed that the people of Jammu and Kashmir will fight their machinations tooth and nail. He said an impression is being generated about Article 370, as if it is meant to safeguard the interests of a particular community or a region but the people must understand that this special proviso is in the larger interests of the entire State.
Former Ministers Pt Govind Ram Sharma and Babu Ram Paul warned BJP not to test the political sagacity and patience of people by dubbing the protagonists of Article 370 as villains and said that by doing so they were actually doing disservice to the nation, ironically for lust of power.
Senior leaders and former legislators, Brij Mohan Sharma and Th Kashmira Singh said that by harping on this slogan, the myopic leaders like Narendra Modi were creating apprehensions in the minds of people of Jammu and Kashmir. They said that Article 370 is not the only article which gives special status to any state but Article 371 also gives special status to north-east states.
Sheikh Bashir Ahmed, Jugal Mahajan, MLA Bimla Luthra and Provincial President Women Wing, Vijay Lakshmi Dutta also spoke on the issue.
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