New Delhi: The ‘pro-hindutva; Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) during her campaign to 2014 general election had immensely propagate that if voted to power it will certainly abrogate the special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The regional J&K parties at that time had voiced opposition to any such move.
But it seems that the BJP lead Indian government has made a sharp U-turn in this regard. The Central government on Tuesday informed the Parliament that there is no proposal to repeal Article 370 of the Constitution which grants autonomous status to the border state of Jammu and Kashmir.
It is reported by the media sources that in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, MoS for Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said that there is no such proposal under the government’s consideration to scrap the Article 370. The reply came in response to a question posed by one of its MP Ashwini Kumar.
“There is currently no such proposal under consideration of the government,” he said while responding to a written question from Ashwini Kumar.
Aforesaid article of the Constitution of India provides temporary provisions to Jammu and Kashmir, granting it special autonomy. Under Article 370, the Parliament needs the state government’s consent for applying other laws except for defence, foreign affairs, communications and finance. Also, there is a separate set of laws J&K peoples compared to citizens of the other states, notes Financial Times (FT).
Article 370 also prohibits the Centre from declaring a state of emergency in Jammu and Kashmir. The government can declare emergency only in case of war.