Article 370 Has to Go Lock, Stock & Barrel: Ram Madhav

“Our government is committed to resolving all outstanding issues in Kashmir,” Madhav said on 29 June.

File image of the BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav. 

(Photo Courtesy: Al-Jazeera’s YouTube screengrab)

“As far as 370 is concerned, our ideological commitment is well known. Article 370 has to go lock, stock and barrel as the Home Minister mentioned.”

Ram Madhav, BJP National General Secretary

BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav reiterated that the Modi government is committed to repealing Article 370 of the Constitution which confers special status to Jammu and Kashmir, on Saturday, 29 June.

Article 370 read with Article 35 of the Constitution grant special status to Jammu and Kashmir and special privileges to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir.

“Our government is committed to resolving all outstanding issues in Kashmir,” Madhav added in the statement on 29 June.

Under Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir has autonomous status, and is subjected to limited control by the Central Government. The Centre also has very limited power to make laws in the state under the provision.

Madhav said that the Article was introduced only as a temporary measure by Jawaharlal Nehru during his tenure as India’s first prime minister.

“When it was introduced by former PM Nehru, he himself had said that it was temporary and would erode on its own.”

But, he added, since it involves some procedure, the scrapping of Article 370 may take time.

Home Minister Amit Shah had blamed the problems in Kashmir on Nehru, while speaking in Parliament on Friday, 28 June. Shah added that the problems in Kashmir arose because of the “misdeeds of Nehru” and that the former prime minister gave a portion of Kashmir to Pakistan without the consent of the then-Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

(With inputs from ANI)