No bigger anti-national act than trying to scrap Kashmir’s Article 370, says Mehbooba Mufti
Referring to the Constitutional provision that gives the state special autonomy, she urged Opposition leaders to help save the Valley’s ‘composite culture’.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said attempts to weaken Article 370 of the Constitution, which grants special autonomy to the state, were the biggest “anti-national act”. “...Because when you weaken this uniqueness of Kashmir through the judiciary, then those forces in Kashmir Valley, who want to put an end to the composite culture in Kashmir and want to have people from one community [Muslims] only, with one attire and one way of life, you will only make them successful,” she said in the state Assembly, according to PTI.
Her statement comes in response to a recent Supreme Court ruling that the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002, will be applicable to Kashmir. The law allows banks and other financial institutions to auction residential or commercial properties to recover loans.
After the ruling, Opposition leader Omar Abdullah had warned against the Centre’s attempts to weaken the state’s special Constitutional status. “Those who think the BJP has abandoned its agenda on the the abrogation of Article 370 are foolish,” he had said, according to The Indian Express.
Mufti, whose Peoples Democratic Party runs the state in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, urged support from Opposition parties in the Valley to help bring back the displaced Kashmiri Pandits. “There are some forces within this country who think that by scrapping Article 370, the issue of Kashmir will be resolved and everything will be alright...We need to work together to save the composite culture which Article 370 protects.”
The BJP has often reiterated its stand to scrap the special Constitutional provision for Kashmir and have the state integrated with India entirely. “These are the same forces...who think by destroying the composite culture in Kashmir, they can make it a one religion-based state,” Mufti said.
Kashmir had been in a state of unrest for months after the killing of Hizul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016. Mufti’s government had faced flak her its handling of the situation – around 100 people have died in frequent clashes between civilians and security forces.