Reiterating his earlier stand on the Kashmir issue, National Conference President and MP Dr Farooq Abdullah said we have special status guaranteed by Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution of India. The state has its affiliation with the centre due to these Articles. He said Jammu and Kashmir never merged in India nor ever will.
Farooq Abdullah said under article 35A the rights of permanent residents of the three regions are secured. No one has the right to abolish them. He urged centre to rein in elements trying to abolish the Articles.
It must be noted that Article 370 of the Indian constitution is an article that gives autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, while Article 35A of the Indian Constitution is an article that empowers the Jammu and Kashmir state’s legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state and provide special rights and privileges to those permanent residents.