:Unveiling the manifesto for the upcoming Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Home Minister Amit Shah has ruled out the restoration of Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state, and said the provision has now "become history".
The restoration of Article 370, which was abrogated in 2019, has been promised in the manifesto released by the National Conference, which is contesting the elections in an alliance with the Congress. The Assembly polls will be the first since 2014 and are also being keenly watched to gauge how the people of Jammu and Kashmir feel about the removal of the provision. Jammu and Kashmir was also bifurcated into two Union Territories, including Ladakh, in 2019 and the government has assured that J&K will be given statehood soon.
In Jammu and Kashmir on a two-day visit, Mr Shah said the former state has been very important to the BJP since Independence and the party has made efforts since then to keep it connected with India.
"Till 2014, the shadow of separatism and terrorism hung over Jammu and Kashmir. Various state and non-state actors tried to destabilise it and governments adopted a policy of appeasement. But, whenever the history of India and Jammu and Kashmir is written, the years between 2014 and 2024 will be written in golden letters for J&K," the minister said in Hindi.
"There was a time when, under the shadow of Article 370, we saw governments bowing down to the demands of separatists and organisations like the Hurriyat. In these 10 years, Article 370 and 35-A (which gave the J&K legislature the right to define permanent residents and give them special privileges) have become part of the past. They are not part of the Constitution," he added.
Mr Shah asserted that the removal of Article 370 under PM Narendra Modi on August 5, 2019, spurred development in the state and said he had read the National Conference's manifesto as well as noted the Congress' "silent support" for it.
"But I want to make it clear to the country: Article 370 has become history. It can never come back and we will never allow it to come back. Because Article 370 was what led to the youth being handed guns and stones in Kashmir," he said.
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On the Assembly polls, the minister said that the BJP"s manifesto for Jammu and Kashmir is aimed at a "peaceful, safe, developed and prosperous" J&K.
Jammu and Kashmir will vote in three phases between September 18 and October 1. Counting will take place on October 8.