National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Saturday hailed Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's remark that his party will relook into the issue of abrogation of Article 370 and said the Rajya Sabha MP has realised the sentiments of people of Jammu and Kashmir.
"There was certain trust. the state did not merge. They joined the Union of India with certain terms. And, one of the terms was article 370. There are already two supreme court verdicts on this which clearly stated it was a permanent feature. The political party at the Centre has the longstanding statement that they would abrogate article 370 and they did this against the wishes of the people of the state. All three regions opposed their move. And we continue to do so against what they have done," Abdullah told ANI.
"I'm very grateful to Digvijaya Singh Ji. He has realised the sentiments of people as other parties who have also spoken about it. I welcome it heartily and hope the present government will look into it again and try to win the heart of the people. And, that only be won if they reverse what they did," added Abdullah.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticised Digvijaya Singh's statement saying it must be a part of Congress' toolkit and the party should change its name to "Anti National Club House".
Briefing mediapersons, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "Digvijaya Singh said if Modi ji comes out of power and Congress's government comes, it will re-establish Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir."
Digvijaya Singh on Saturday said revoking Article 370 and reducing the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir was an extremely sad decision and the Congress Party will relook into this issue.
Speaking in Club House chat, Digvijaya Singh said, "Democracy was not there in Kashmir. When they revoked Article 370 then Insaniyat was not there because they had put everyone behind bars. Kashmiriyat is something that is basically the fundamentals of secularism. Because in a Muslim majority state, there was a Hindu Raja and both were together. Kashmiri Pundits were given Reservation in Kashmir in government services. So therefore the decision of revoking Article 370 and reducing the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir is an extremely sad decision. And the Congress Party would certainly have to have a relook into this issue."
In August 2019, the Central government scrapped Article 370 which gave special rights to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the region into two categories- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
( With inputs from ANI )
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