'Kashmir belongs to India': Amit Shah on PM Modi's 'big message' to world with Article 370 abrogation

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “big message” with the abrogation of Article 370 was that “Kashmir belongs to India”.

In an exclusive interview with Network 18 Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, Shah said that no one until Modi had the willpower to abrogate Article 370.

Shah said, “There was neither enough majority with the BJP nor willpower. When Modi Ji formed the government for the second time with two-thirds majority, Article 370 was abrogated in the very first session. In the 11 years of Modi Ji’s government, this was a big message of Narendra Modi Ji in securing the country, controlling terrorism, and telling the world that Kashmir belongs to India.”

The Modi government abrogated Article 370 on August 5, 2019. The abrogation had been one of the foundational objectives of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which believed that Article 370, which provided Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) its special status, including a separate flag and constitution, was an obstacle in the way of its complete integration with India.

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Recalling Shyama Prasad Mukherjee of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shah said that that the commitment to abrogate Article 370 was there from the very beginning.

In 1953, Mukherjee dubbed Article 370 as an act of ‘Balkanisation’ of India and akin to a three-nation theory. He went to J&K to protest against Article 370 where he was detained. He died on 44th day of his detention.