Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 1: Describing Jammu and Kashmir’s special status as sacred, Peoples Conference (PC) Chairman Sajad Gani Lone said any attempt to abrogate Article 370 would be tantamount to committing suicide.
Former Minister in the PDP-BJP coalition Government from Saffron party quota, Sajad said J&K’s special status is sacred and a matter of special provisions offered to the people of the State in order to be part of India.
Mere thoughts of abrogating it will be tantamount to committing suicide, Sajad said in a statement here this afternoon.
Reacting sharply to BJP president Amit Shah’s statement on J&K’s special status, Sajad said New Delhi refuses to learn from its past mistakes and is hell bent on further distancing future generations of the State from the rest of the country.
“The growing alienation and mistrust in Kashmir is a result of systematic erosion of Article 370 from its original form. Mere thought of abrogating Articles 370 and 35-A is further going to damage the relationship between the people of J&K and the rest of India. If New Delhi indeed intends to tinker with Article 370 and 35-A, it will be tantamount to committing suicide”, he added.
Sajad said, “any misstep in regard to Article 370 has the potential to further secessionist sentiment in the valley. The secessionist sentiment will get its ultimate mass justification.”
“Forget abrogation, mere statements of intent to undermine or dilute Article 370 and Article 35A will fatally shake the foundations of accession. Any attempt to actually do away with it would be as good as saying goodbye to the State. It would prove to be the last straw in the New Delhi’s relationship with the State of J&K”, he added.
Reiterating his demand to further strengthen Article 370, Sajad said restoring it to its original pristine is the only solution to resolve the problem in Kashmir.
“Restoring Article 370 to its original contours is the only non-military measure left with the Indian State to restore peace in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. This is an article of trust, an article of faith and essentially a contract. The contract is subject to abiding to the set of obligations as agreed by both parties. Any move to abandon its obligations by either party actually nullifies the contract and puts accession in a State of ambiguity. The statement of Shah is legally untenable and ethically undesirable”, he added.
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