Amit Shah’s remarks on Gupkar alliance appropriate: BJP

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The BJP on Tuesday termed Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks on the Gupkar alliance as appropriate and said after the abrogation of Article 370, a number of pro-people central laws came into force in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Shah on Tuesday termed the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a conglomerate of political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, an “unholy global alliance” and alleged that it, along with the Congress, wants to take Jammu and Kashmir back to the era of terror and turmoil.

The senior BJP leader in a series of tweets also asserted that Jammu and Kashmir has been and always be an integral part of India.

The conglomerate of regional and national political parties, including the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Jammu and Kashmir was formed defending the restoration of the Article 370, scrapped last year.

Welcoming Shah’s statements on the Gupkar alliance, BJP leader and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told a press conference that his remarks are appropriate as PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti had made it clear that she will not raise the national flag until the separate flag of Jammu and Kashmir is restored.

Prasad also claimed that NC leader Farooq Abdullah had once stated that he will seek China’s support for the restoration of special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Centre on August 5 last year had abrogated Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated it into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Unlike these leaders, the people of the Jammu and Kashmir have started benefitting from pro-people central laws that have been brought into force in the Union Territory after the abrogation of special status, Union minister Prasad said.

Prasad citing various laws said that women were earlier deprived of property rights in Jammu and Kashmir if they married outside, and anti-corruption laws, reservation for disadvantaged sections of society and various other “humanist” central laws were not implemented in the region.

On August 4 last year, a day before abrogation of Article 370 was announced, political parties in Kashmir, except the BJP, met at Abdullah’s residence on Gupkar Road in Srinagar. They had also issued a joint statement defending Article 370.

The constituents of the conglomerate besides the NC and the PDP also include the CPI-M, the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference and the Awami National Conference.

The Congress recently announced that it will have a seat-sharing arrangement with the PAGD for the forthcoming elections to District Development Councils in Jammu and Kashmir.

Abdullah is the PAGD’s chairperson and PDP chief Mehbooba its vice-chairperson. Veteran CPI-M leader M Y Tarigami is the alliance’s convenor while People’s Conference leader Sajjad Gani Lone is its spokesperson.