“Article 370 had established Kashmir’s relations with India “constitutionally” while the rail tunnel established the “physical relation”.
BANIHAL: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has warned India’s right-wing nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) against talking about scrapping the special status of Jammu and Kashmir within the country.
Senior BJP leader, L.K. Advani had recently said that Article 370 – which provides special status to J&K within the Indian union – needed to be revoked.
“The country waits for that day,” he had said.
Omar Abdullah, in a strong worded speech at a function after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the Banihal-Qazigund Railway Tunnel, said revoking the Article 370 was simply impossible.
“You have to do it on our dead bodies,” he said.
He questioned the BJP’s silence on the issue during their “six and a half year tenure” at the centre.
“BJP only raises the issue of Article 370 when elections are in sight”, he said and challenged this party to dare to touch Article 370 which has established Jammu and Kashmir relations with the Union of India.
Omar warned that the National Conference and the Congress, which rule the state in coalition, would foil all attempts to weaken the State-Central relations.
“There may be some differences on certain political issues between National Conference and Congress in the State but both parties are firm to strengthen the ties between Jammu and Kashmir and the Union of India through Article 370 and nurture the nationalist forces in the State.”
The chief minister said that Article 370 had established Jammu and Kashmir’s relations with the Union of India “constitutionally” while the 11.9 kilometre long railway tunnel across Pir Panchal mountains “now established the physical relation of the state with the Country.”
“It has not only linked the areas and the regions but the hearts as well,” he said.
