SRINAGAR: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday warned that if the central government scraps Article 370, its relationship with the state will come to an end.
Article 370 of the Constitution is a bridge between Jammu and Kashmir and India and if it goes, people in the state will be forced to think if they want to be with New Delhi or not, said former Chief Minister.
“If you break that bridge (Article 370)… Then you will have to renegotiate the relationship between India and Jammu and Kashmir. There will be new conditions… A Muslim majority state, would it even want to stay with you? If you scrap Article 370, your relation with Jammu and Kashmir will be over,” she said.
Addressing party workers at her residence, she said if Article 370 was scrapped, new conditions would have to be worked out between Jammu and Kashmir and India.
In such an eventuality, the people of the country’s only Muslim-majority state would be forced to think whether they want to remain with India or not, she said.
“If you break that bridge (Article 370), then you will have to renegotiate the relationship between India and Jammu and Kashmir.”
Mehbooba Mufti’s statement came in response to a comment made by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who on Thursday advocated repeal of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and that Article 35A was constitutionally vulnerable and an impediment to the economic development of Jammu and Kashmir.
Demands have surfaced time and again to revoke Article 370 along with Article 35 (A), which grants special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir.
With agencies input