News Analysis India

Tag: Article 370

  • Terrorism reduced in Ladakh after becoming UT: Rajnath Singh

    By ANI
    LADAKH: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said terrorism has reduced in Ladakh after it became a Union territory.

    “After becoming a Union territory, terrorism has reduced in Ladakh. There is mutual coordination among the Army, paramilitary forces and local police. We have data and figures that terrorism has reduced here,” said the Minister.

    Singh also revealed that many people had doubted the intention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi when Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh became a union territory by calling it a “political vested interest”.

    He also informed that the Centre wants to re-start the political process quickly in both regions.

    “After Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were made Union Territories, many doubted the intention of Prime Minister as political vested interest. But he wants the political process to start in both regions. He spoke to political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir and will speak to leaders in Ladakh soon,” he added.

    Raksha Mantri also lauded the Army and said, “Our Army is sensitive as well. Even if the terrorists want to surrender and want to get into the mainstream then they are also given this opportunity.”

    Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday inaugurated 63 infrastructure projects constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) from Ladakh.

    Singh is currently in Leh for a three-day visit to Ladakh. 

  • In open letter, 15 ex-IPS officers laud Modi government’s action in JK, say recent initiative ‘exemplary’

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Fifteen retired IPS officers Saturday wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, lauding him for his government’s “courageous and decisive” efforts to resolve the complex Kashmir issue, and termed “exemplary” the recent initiative by the Centre to reach out to political stakeholders there.

    The signatories, 10 of whom have served as state DGPs, said the complete integration of Kashmir with the Union of India was an unfinished task since the Constitution was adopted in 1950.

    The Modi government’s “painstaking, courageous and decisive efforts” at attempting to resolve the complex Kashmir issue have been noticed ever since the Modi dispensation came to power seven years ago, they added.

    “It is a matter of national pride that over these years, the central government tried all means possible to achieve this goal.

    “The momentous decision to annul Article 35A and read-down Article 370, was efficiently implemented, with all necessary precautions to prevent the loss of life and property,” the letter said.

    Now, a citizen of Kashmir can proudly call himself or herself Indian and receive all benefits that the Indian State bestows on its citizens, it said.

    The retired police officers also said it is a matter of great satisfaction that the government’s ability to foresee future events and to plan for all kinds of possibilities led to tight control over crime, terrorism and public order since August 5, 2019, when the Article 370, giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated and the erstwhile state was divided into two Union Territories.

    They said the implementation of the plan was impeccable, given that Pakistan, the “permanent interloper” in matters regarding Kashmir, was boxed into a difficult position, given its earlier stand of non-recognition of Article 370.

    ALSO READ | Centre must follow-up on outcome of all-party meet to restore democracy in J&K: Congress

    “Of more interest is the fact that Pakistan is now calling for the reinstatement of Statehood for Jammu and Kashmir, which amounts to accepting Jammu and Kashmir as part of the Union of India,” they said.

    The retired police officers also appreciated the manner in which the government organised an impeccable system of managing external pressures such as those from western nations and multilateral bodies like the United Nation, which, they said, had been interfering in India’s internal affairs regarding Kashmir for several decades.

    “None of these external elements were able to create any significant impact, except the appearance of articles in media of choice. Almost two years have elapsed and the seal of integration with the Union is absolute,” they said.

    The Central government’s most recent initiative at reaching out to political stakeholders and countering the twin elements of “Dil ki doori” and “Dilli ki doori”, in order to enhance trust, is exemplary, reflecting a dynamic approach to policy-making, the letter said.

    “We are hopeful that you will fulfil your promise of bringing economic development to Jammu and Kashmir, with all the robust investment plans that have been finalised,” they said.

    The signatories include AK Singh (IPS, Gujarat, 1985), Badri Prasad Singh (IPS, Uttar Pradesh, 1990), Geeta Johri (IPS, Gjaurat, 1982), K Aravinda Rao (IPS, AP, 1977), K Rajendra Kumar (IPS, JK, 1984), KB Singh (IPS, Odisha, 1985),M Nageswara Rao (IPS, Odisha, 1986), PP Pandey (IPS, Gujarat, 1982), Prakash Mishra (IPS, Odisha, 1977).

    ALSO READ | Some leaders still dreaming about restoration of Article 370, it’s next to impossible: J&K BJP head

    Prime Minister Modi Thursday held an all-party meeting on Jammu and Kashmir where he said the ongoing delimitation exercise there has to happen quickly so that polls can be held to form an elected government that gives strength to its development trajectory.

    The prime minister had also said he wanted to remove ”Dilli ki Duri as well as ”Dil Ki Duri” (distance from Delhi as well as distance of hearts), according to the sources.

  • Centre must follow-up on outcome of all-party meet to restore democracy in J&K: Congress

    G A Mir, who is the president of the Congress #39; Jammu and Kashmir unit, was among 14 leaders of eight different parties from the Union Territory who attended the meeting chaired by PM Modi.

  • Some leaders still dreaming about restoration of Article 370, it’s next to impossible: J&K BJP head

    Ravinder Raina, his senior party colleagues and former deputy chief ministers, Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta, attended the June 24 all-party meeting on J amp;K chaired by PM Narendra Modi.

  • Back from Delhi, Farooq Abdullah says ‘level of mistrust’ in J&K; Omar demands statehood before polls

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah Saturday said there was “a level of mistrust” in Jammu and Kashmir and it was for the Centre to remove it, even as his son and former chief minister Omar Abdullah demanded restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood before holding Assembly polls.

    Speaking to reporters upon their return from Delhi after attending an all-party meet convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq said he would hold discussions with his party leaders and PAGD constituents before making any further statement on the meeting.

    He said the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru promised plebiscite to the people of J&K, but went back on it.

    He also said that before the 1996 elections, the then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao had promised autonomy from the floor of the house.

    “Narasimha Raoji before elections promised us autonomy and said sky is the limit, but not independence. We said we never asked (for) independence, we have asked for autonomy. He promised us from the floor of the house. Where is that?” Farooq asked.

    “There is a level of mistrust….We should wait and see what they (the Centre) do….Whether they will remove the mistrust or let it continue,” he added.

    The former CM said even senior Congress leader Karan Singh has called for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir before holding elections.

    He said that at the prime minister’s meeting, all invited persons put forth their views.

    “This was the first step from their side that somehow the situation is improved in Jammu and Kashmir and a political process is restarted,” he said.

    The Srinagar Lok Sabha MP dismissed suggestions that the June 24 meeting with the Prime Minister signalled the end of People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) — a Six-party amalgam of mainstream parties formed after the Centre abrogated Article 370 and split Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories in August 2019.

    “Why should it be the end of the alliance?” Omar, meanwhile, told reporters it was made clear to the Centre during the PM’s meeting that the statehood should be restored to Jammu and Kashmir before holding of Assembly elections.

    “(Ghulam Nabi) Azad sahib spoke on behalf of all of us that we do not accept this timeline. We do not accept delimitation, election, statehood. We want delimitation, statehood and then election. If you want to hold polls, you will have to restore statehood first,” he told reporters soon after returning from Delhi.

    On the process of delimitation, he said the National Conference had authorised its president Farooq Abdullah to take a view as and when the party is approached by the delimitation commission again.

    Dismissing suggestions that the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) was weakened after the meeting, Omar said that in the all-party meet alliance members said nothing which was outside the spirit of the grouping.

    “We maintain that we do not accept the August 2019 decisions and we will continue to fight them legally, democratically and peacefully,” he said.

    Referring to some leaders refusing to talk about the restoration of Article 370 as the matter was subjudice, Omar said it should not come in the way of discussing the issue.

    “Firstly, only two persons said the matter is subjdice — Azad and Muzaffar Hussain Baig — and they both are not part of the PAGD. The matter is before the Supreme Court does not mean we cannot talk about it. The Babri Masjid case was before the Supreme Court but the BJP raised the Ram Temple issue all along,” he said.

    He said the leaders were invited to the all-party meet at party level and not as an alliance.

    “Had we been invited as an alliance, then only one person would have been invited,” he added.

    The National Conference vice president said they would continue to strive for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, irrespective of how long it takes.

    “It took 70 years for the BJP to succeed in their agenda of abrogation of Article 370. We won’t back off from our mission, even if it takes us 70 weeks or 70 months or more time,” he said.

    He said the leadership should take steps that provide some respite to the people from harassment.

  • Jammu & Kashmir wants restoration of statehood: Pakistan minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding a meeting of all political parties of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday said Kashmiris wanted restoration of statehood.

    Terming Modi’s claim of fulfilling the statehood demand as vague and against the wishes of Kashmiris, Qureshi said, “This (holding the meeting) was a failed attempt on part of the Indian Prime Minister to mend the tarnished image of his government following the illegal acts of revocation of special status of J&K.”

    The meeting almost lasted three hours. This was the first such meeting held after August 5, 2019 when the Centre had revoked Article 370 and ended the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir while bifurcating it into two union territories.

    “India has exercised all tools of State oppression to curb the determination of Kashmiris, however it has failed to subjugate them,” the Pakistan foreign minister said and added that the decision had resulted in the closure of almost 50 per cent of the industries in the Valley.

    “Since the step (revoking Article 370) would have far-reaching implications, Pakistan has highlighted the matter at highest fora including UNGA, UNSC, at the levels of PM and foreign minister at various bilateral talks and at the Geneva Council of Human Rights,” he added.

  • Centre mulls release of more political detainees from Jammu & Kashmir

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  The first steps towards removing “Dil ki doori aur Dilli ki doori” as PM Narendra Modi put it in his meeting with 14 leaders from J&K were taken well before their meeting on Thursday.

    A few political leaders in detention were released days before the high-profile meeting was held in the capital and sources in Ministry of Home Affairs say that a committee will be formed by J&K L-G Manoj Sinha, who will go through the list of remaining detainees on a case-to-case basis. Release of more political detainees could be seen soon.

    “The L-G will constitute a committee which will go through a list of 40 people who are in custody under the PSA. Most of them belong to political parties. Based on various factors and depending on the feedback from security agencies their release will be looked into,” a source in the Ministry of Home Affairs told The New Indian Express. “Cases of those who were not charged with offences of violence will be reviewed,” the sources added.

    BJP leader and former J&K deputy CM Nirmal Singh, who attended the meeting, said: “In the meeting, the home minister shared data of detainees under PSA who are still in custody. He said there are 40 people who are detained under the PSA, and he said their cases will be reviewed by a committee.”

    Release of political prisoners was one of the key demands made by various leaders, including Congress’s Ghulam Nabi Azad, in the meeting with the PM and Home Minister Amit Shah. 

    In fact, in the run up to the meeting held on Thursday, several political detainees such as PDP’s Naeem Akhtar and Sartaj Madni were released last week. Akhtar was first detained in August 2019 and booked again under the PSA.

    After being released in June 2020 he was again taken into custody in December last year. Madni, the uncle of former CM Mehbooba Mufti, was released after six months of detention on Saturday and a day later Akhtar was also released.

    Experts have welcomed these developments. “In 2004 after the Hurriyat held two rounds of talks with the then deputy PM LK Advani, Advaniji asked them what it is that they want. They asked for the release of political prisoners. I think they gave a list of some 35 people of which the government ordered the release of around 12,” said AS Dulat, the former R&AW chief.

    Skandan Krishnan, a former IAS officer who served as an advisor to former J&K governor Satyapal Malik said “such a move will give the biggest fillip to the local parties”.

  • Delimitation, holding of polls in J-K important milestones in restoring statehood: Amit Shah

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the delimitation exercise and holding of peaceful elections in Jammu and Kashmir are important milestones in restoring statehood as promised in Parliament.

    The home minister’s comments came after a three-and-half-hour-long meeting held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with 14 political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, including four former chief ministers. “We are committed to ensure all round development of J&K. The future of Jammu and Kashmir was discussed and the delimitation exercise and peaceful elections are important milestones in restoring statehood as promised in Parliament,” Shah said in a tweet.

    He said Thursday’s meeting on Jammu and Kashmir was held in a very cordial environment. “Everyone expressed their commitment to democracy and the Constitution. It was stressed to strengthen the democratic process in Jammu and Kashmir,” Shah said in another tweet.

    The four former chief ministers of the erstwhile state who participated in the discussions were Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah of the National Conference, Congress’ Ghulam Nabi Azad and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti.

    Four former deputy chief ministers were in attendance too – Congress’ Tara Chand, People’s Conference leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig and BJP’s Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta.

    CPM leader Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) chief Altaf Bukhari, Sajjad Lone of the People’s Conference, J-K Congress head G A Mir, BJP’s Ravinder Raina and Panthers Party leader Bhim Singh also formed part of the delegation.

    This is the first interaction between the central leadership and mainstream parties since August 5, 2019, when the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 and bifurcated it into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

  • Need to remove ‘dil ki doori’ with people of Jammu and Kashmir: Mehbooba

    The former chief minister emphasised on removing the quot;draconian quot; orders that were passed on August 5, 2019, on abrogation of Jammu and Kahsmir #39;s special status.

  • PM’s meeting with J-K leaders ‘positive’ step; Centre must restore statehood before assembly polls: Karan Singh

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with top political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir as a “very positive step”, veteran Congress leader and former J&K governor Karan Singh on Friday said statehood must be restored before holding assembly polls there and asserted that such a move would go a long way in helping to “heal the wounds” of the people.

    Singh, the son of Maharaja Hari Singh who signed the terms of Kashmir’s accession in 1947, also said his personal opinion is that prima facie the revocation of special status under Article 370 seems “irreversible” but asserted that the matter was before the Supreme Court and it must be decided by the top court.

    In an interview with PTI, the last Sadr-e-Riyasat and first governor of the erstwhile state also demanded that the Centre must provide a “financial-cum- developmental package” to the people whose livelihoods were badly affected during the last two years following the Centre’s move to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories and revoke its special status.

    His remarks come a day after Modi held talks with top political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir and told them that the Centre’s priority is to strengthen grassroots democracy there for which delimitation has to happen quickly for polls to be held.

    Reacting to the prime minister’s meeting with 14 political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir, including four former chief ministers, Singh said, “I definitely think it is a very positive step.

    First of all, because everybody was involved and people who once were discarded as anti-national, they all came — National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party both.”

    “I believe everybody spoke their mind very frankly and the prime minister listened very attentively to everybody. Three and a half hours of the meeting was there and my own view is that it is a very positive move because something was needed to break the ice,” the former Union minister said.

    The whole situation after the change of status had become “ossified politically”, Singh said, adding that the meeting was the start of a political process that is to be welcomed.

    Asked about the demand of most of Jammu and Kashmir leaders of restoration of statehood, he said it was a unanimous view because after being in special status for 70 years suddenly to be demoted to not even a state down to a Union Territory is “something nobody in Jammu and Kashmir has appreciated”.

    “So statehood is a universal demand, the question is timing. Now as I understand the situation, the first step now is delimitation. The delimitation commission is already working, they should submit their report very soon. After delimitation then the next step is elections. My own view is that. we should have elections as a full state,” Singh said.

    He asserted that full statehood for Jammu and Kashmir should definitely be restored before assembly elections because if it goes to polls as a Union territory and then becomes a state, that would not make any sense because the situations are different with difference in status.

    “As soon as possible, we should get statehood, I mean if we get it tomorrow there is nothing like it but in any case when we fight the next elections we must fight them as a full-fledged state,” the 90-year-old leader said.

    Singh also lamented that it was a “strange irony” that his father signed the instrument of accession for the whole state and “today we are having to fight for statehood”.

    Asked if statehood could reduce “dil ki doori’ — a term used by Prime Minister Modi at the meeting, Singh said restoring statehood will go a long way to help “heal the wounds”.

    “By itself, it won’t be enough but it would definitely be a major step,” he added.

    Asked about calls from a section for restoring Article 370 provisions that granted special status to J&K and were abrogated in 2019, Singh said, “My personal belief in this is that it seems to me prima facie that the changes are irreversible but the matter is before the Supreme Court so we shouldn’t unnecessarily make any detailed comment on it what should be done and what should not be done.”

    The veteran Congress leader urged the Supreme Court to take up the matter soon, asserting that it was a very crucial and important issue that should be given priority.

    Asked about divergent views struck by Congress leaders on the Article 370 issue, Singh said he was not a Congress spokesperson and would not want to speak on behalf of the party.

    “I expressed my personal view that it did not seem to me that Article 370 can be restored. My view may be slightly divergent from others. But the consensus is what Ghulam Nabi (Azad) said” and the matter is before the Supreme Court and they will decide on it.

    Asked what were his expectations from the Centre on J&K going forward, Singh said he expected that they would move forward as they say on delimitation, elections and statehood.

    Demanding a financial-cum- developmental package for the people of J&K, Singh said for two years the state suffered very heavily.

    “The whole Kashmir Valley, the horticulture was destroyed, tourism which is our mainstay was destroyed so tens of hundreds of crores of losses were suffered,” he said, adding that in Jammu also heavy losses were incurred.

    “So they should first compensate those people who lost during those two years,” he said.

    Singh said people of Jammu and Kashmir would want to see a visible spurt in developmental activity going forward.

    “Until we see a visible spurt in developmental activities, the claims that there is ‘great advantage’ now, people won’t swallow it,” he said.

    Modi’s J&K outreach saw the prime minister conveying to the 14 political leaders from the union territory during their face-to-face meeting here that he wanted to end the ‘Dilli ki Doori’ as well as ‘Dil ki Doori’ (distance from Delhi as well as the distance of hearts) with Jammu and Kashmir, which has witnessed a prolonged spell of militancy and unrest.

    The four former chief ministers of the erstwhile state who participated in the discussions were Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah of the National Conference, Congress’ Ghulam Nabi Azad and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti.

    Four former deputy chief ministers were in attendance too – Congress’ Tara Chand, People’s Conference leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig and BJP’s Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta.

    CPI-M leader Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) chief Altaf Bukhari, Sajjad Lone of the People’s Conference, J-K Congress head G A Mir, BJP’s Ravinder Raina and Panthers Party leader Bhim Singh also formed part of the delegation.

    This was the first interaction between the top leadership of the Union government and mainstream parties in J&K since August 5, 2019, when the Centre revoked its special status provided under Article 370 and bifurcated the border state into Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.