Rahul Gandhi on Article 370: Can't integrate India by unilaterally tearing apart Jammu and Kashmir, says ex-Congress chief

Day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah moved a resolution in Rajya Sabha to revoke Article 370 and Article 35A from Jammu and Kashmir, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi broke his silence and said that national integration cannot be achieved by “unilaterally” tearing the state apart. Rahul slammed the BJP for unilaterally forcing its decision on the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

National integration isn’t furthered by unilaterally tearing apart J&K, imprisoning elected representatives and violating our Constitution. This nation is made by its people, not plots of land.

This abuse of executive power has grave implications for our national security.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 6, 2019

The Centre on Monday revoked Article 370  taking away Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, and proposed the bifurcation of the state into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, a bold and far-reaching decision that seeks to redraw the map and future of a region at the centre of a protracted militancy movement. Fulfilling an electoral promise of the BJP less than 90 days after the Modi government came back to power, Shah announced the decision in the Rajya Sabha, which approved both the resolution and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation bill. [caption id=“attachment_6439551” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Rahul Gandhi. PTI[/caption] The Bill has been taken up by Lok Sabha today for consideration and passage. CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES ON KASHMIR AND PARLIAMENT OVER ARTICLE 370 Massive security deployment was made with prohibitory orders clamped across the state on Monday before the government announced the decision to scrap Article 370. As per the article, except for defence, foreign affairs, finance and communications, Parliament needed the state government’s concurrence for applying all other laws. The government’s effort to tackle head-on the vexatious 72-year-old problem wracking the soul of the nation sent a wave of jubilation among BJP supporters and others but provoked outrage from the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the principal political parties in Jammu and Kashmir. The chiefs of the two parties, NC’s Omar Abdullah and PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, as well as People’s Conference’s leader Sajad Lone were arrested in Srinagar on Monday evening, officials said. Unprecedented in its political courage, the decision to take away the state’s special status and treat it like any other is aimed at the ending the decades-old separatist movement. As Shah moved the resolution in the Rajya Sabha that Article 370, which allowed Jammu and Kashmir to have its own Constitution and prohibited outsiders from buying land and property in the state, will no longer be applicable, there were also fears that the government’s decisions would change the demographic profile. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba articulated her apprehensions in a tweet . “Government of India’s intention is clear and sinister. They want to change the demography of the only muslim majority state in India, disempower Muslims to the extent where they become second class citizens in their own state,” she said. With inputs from agencies