Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Sunday held the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 responsible for the Chinese aggression at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.
Speaking exclusively to new Delhi based media outlet -India Today TV, Farooq Abdullah said that China “never accepted” the Abrogation of Article 370, and hoped that it will be restored with China’s support.
“Whatever they are doing at LAC in Ladakh all because of the abrogation of Article 370, which they never accepted. I am hopeful that with their support, Article 370 will be restored in J&K,” Farooq Abdullah said.
“I never invited the Chinese President, it was [PM] Modi who not only invited him, but did jhoola sawari with him. He [PM Modi] even took him to Chennai and had food with him,” Farooq Abdullah said.
Further speaking on the Centre’s decision on Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah said that “what the government had done on August 5 [in 2019] was unacceptable”.
Farooq Abdullah further said that he was not even allowed to speak on the problems of Jammu and Kashmir in Parliament.
Article 370, combined with Article 35A, accorded Jammu and Kashmir special status under the Constitution of India, allowing it to have a separate constitution and a separate penal code among other legal distinctions.
Parliament had passed two resolutions on August 5 last year. The first rendered Article 370 inoperative in Jammu and Kashmir by applying the power granted under the same Article of the Constitution. The second resolution was for bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and its reorganisation came into effect on October 31.
After the abrogation, top Jammu and Kashmir political leaders including Farooq Abdullah, his son and former CM Omar Abdullah and PDP chief and former CM Mehbooba Mufti were put under house arrest. The Abdullahs have been released since.
Currently, India and China are locked in a tense border standoff in Ladakh. Both sides have held a series of high-level diplomatic and military talks to resolve the border row.(KNS).
