Article 370 is bridge, not obstacle, for integration: Mehbooba Mufti

A day after lambasting Pakistan and separatists for sabotaging peace process, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today made a veiled attack on the coalition partner — BJP — for repeatedly raising the demand of the abrogation of Article 370 for the “technical integration” of J&K with India.
Winding up the debate on the Governor’s address in the Legislative Assembly this evening, Mehbooba said Article 370 was not an obstacle but a bridge between J&K and India to strengthen the Central-state relations.
In her 28-minute address, Mehbooba defended Article 370 nearly ten times to give a message to the Opposition as well as her coalition partner that despite having an alliance with the BJP her party was committed to protect this Article at any cost.
“By demanding the abrogation of Article 370, the BJP wants technical integration of J&K with India. But, the real issue is of emotional and psychological integration of the state with the Union,” she said, adding, “technically J&K is already integrated with India but we have to emotionally integrate it with India.”
As her arch-rival National Conference (NC) and other Kashmir-centric parties are repeatedly taunting that the PDP-BJP alliance would weaken Article 370, which grants a special status to J&K, Mehbooba seized the opportunity to remove such apprehensions by stating that both parties, who have diametrically opposite ideologies, had agreed to maintain the status quo on Article 370.
“It is clearly mentioned in our Agenda of Alliance, the document of governance, that a status quo should be maintained on Article 370 ,” she said.
“Our Constitution has potential not only to address wishes and aspirations of the people of J&K but also of the residents of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) for which we have reserved 24 seats in the Assembly,” she said.
Without naming the BJP and other groups which are opposed to “autonomy” demand of the NC or “self-rule” of the PDP, Mehbooba said there was a need to remove apprehensions.
As in 2002, the then NDA government, headed by the BJP had rejected the autonomy proposal of the then NC government in J&K, Mehbooba said, “we should keep in mind that the proposal of autonomy was made by those who had acceded J&K to India.” She added that the PDP had forwarded the proposal of “self-rule.” “We talked within the Constitution not beyond it,” she said, adding that there was a need to address the issue through democratic means.
Defending her late father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s decision to align with the BJP, she admitted that her party had raised the fear of BJP and RSS during the 2014 Assembly elections but it was post-election scenario that forced her party to go for a coalition with the saffron party. “It was the mandate that was thrown up by the people after the Assembly elections and political compulsions that the PDP went for a coalition with the BJP for the unity of the state,” she argued, admitting that her party had other easy options to stitch coalition but Mufti had opted for “difficult” decision. “The BJP has a decisive mandate at the Centre for a lasting solution on the Kashmir issue, we decided to align with the party,” she said.

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