Srinagar : Former chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Sunday held the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 responsible for the Chinese aggression at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, and hoped that Chinese support will also help in restoration of J&K’s special status.
In an interview with ‘India Today TV’, former chief minister and incumbent Member Parliament from Srinagar said that the abrogation of Article 370 has led to the Chinese aggression at the LAC in Ladakh. He also hoped that Article 370 will be restored with China’s support.
In the said interview, Farooq Abdullah said that China “never accepted” the Abrogation of Article 370. “Whatever they are doing at LAC in Ladakh all because of the abrogation of Article 370, which they never accepted. I am hopeful that with their support, Article 370 will be restored in J&K,” Farooq Abdullah said.
“I never invited the Chinese President, it was [PM] Modi who not only invited him but did ‘jhoola sawari’ with him. He [PM Modi] even took him to Chennai and had food with him,” Farooq Abdullah said.
Further speaking on the Centre’s decision on Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah said that “what the government had done on August 05 [in 2019] was unacceptable”.
Farooq Abdullah further said that he was not even allowed to speak on the problems of Jammu and Kashmir in Parliament.
Article 370, combined with Article 35-A, accorded Jammu and Kashmir special status under the Constitution of India, allowing it to have a separate constitution and a separate penal code among other legal distinctions.
Parliament had passed two resolutions on August 05 last year. The first rendered Article 370 inoperative in Jammu and Kashmir by applying the power granted under the same Article of the Constitution. The second resolution was for bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The special status of Jammu and Kashmir and its reorganisation came into effect on October 31, 2019.
Currently, India and China are locked in a tense border standoff in Ladakh. Both sides have held a series of high-level diplomatic and military talks to resolve the border row.
