‘Art 370 gone forever, people are now free’
*Don’t underestimate importance of local polls
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said terrorism has hit record lows while tourism is hitting record highs in Jammu and Kashmir and the Constitution of India, which protects rights of socially vulnerable groups, is fully applicable to the people of the Union Territory.
In an interview to India Today, Modi said the Central Government has adopted a multi-pronged approach with focus on security, development, investment infrastructure and human capital. He was responding to a question on what his Government is doing to ensure that peace is sustained in Jammu and Kashmir.
“We are absolutely on the path of ensuring sustainable peace, stability and prosperity for the people of the region by improving their living standards, promoting economic growth and generating employment opportunities,” Modi said.
“A complete re-engineering of Government processes has been done through reforms,’’ he added.
On holding elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister said the UT is already represented in the Parliament at the national level.
There are five MPs in Lok Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir including three of National Conference, all from Kashmir valley, and two from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), both in Jammu division. They include Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Sharma of BJP; and Dr Farooq Abdullah, Mohammad Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi, all from the National Conference.
“However, at the local level, for the first time, we have been able to take democracy to the grassroots. A three-tier Panchayati Raj System has been established in J&K and 35,000 leaders elected at the grassroots,’’ he said and asked: “Why do we underestimate the importance of these elections?”
“People of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are today seeing all-round progress in every aspect be it democracy, development or dynamism,” Modi said.
Asserting that terrorism had hit record lows while tourism is hitting record highs, he said international events like G20 meetings have taken place and the world has witnessed hospitality and pristine beauty of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Women of the UT are today emerging in various fields from sports to entrepreneurship. New industries are opening up,’’ the Prime Minister said.
He added that the Constitution of India, which protects the rights of socially and vulnerable groups, is fully applicable to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Responding to questions on abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India which was scrapped by the Central Government on August 5, 2019 and the decision was upheld by the Supreme Court on December 11 this year, Narendra Modi said for the first time, the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are free with Article 370 gone forever.
He added that people in the two Union Territories now can shape their destinies with their own hands.
“The issue in front of the country is not the Supreme Court bringing legal closure, the people have an issue with the delay in terminating a temporary provision. Despite Nehruji having said in Parliament that ‘Ghiste ghiste ghis jayega (it would erode and disappear one day)’’, for seven decades, the people of Jammu and Kashmir were deprived of their rights especially women and those from underprivileged communities,’’ the Prime Minister said.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
