Ghulam Nabi Azad, a senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, has given a strong statement that the time has come to move beyond Article 370 and 35-A.
Azad spoke about the current political situation in Jammu and Kashmir in an exclusive interview with News18 senior correspondent, Pir Mudasir Qadri. Here are the excerpts of the interview.
You are the only politician from Jammu and Kashmir who has defended Article 370 in the Parliament of India. What is your opinion on Article 370 and 35-A?
I have raised my voice and talked about Article 370 in Parliament for 2 consecutive years. But now the time has come for us to go ahead and restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir and the early assembly elections will be my top priority.
Article 370 was already hollow but the security of land and jobs was its key factor. I will continue my efforts to ensure reservation of jobs and land for the people of J&K and the government will soon introduce a bill in this regard. I’ll put pressure on
Do you think the delimitation report is ready now but it is still kept hidden from the public domain. It has been said that the BJP is responsible for the delay in the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Why has the Delimitation Commission report not come out yet? However, assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir should be preceded by delimitation so that it does not directly benefit any particular person or party.
Before the abrogation of Article 370, all the claims of BJP were proved to be baseless. BJP was talking about development and jobs, whereas J&K now has the highest unemployment rate.
After the abrogation of Article 370, BJP was making tall claims that the situation on the ground had improved a lot. But till now militancy is increasing and the situation is not coming back on track?
The security forces of the country and the Jammu and Kashmir Police are performing their duty, but the way terrorism was eliminated in Punjab did not happen in Kashmir. In Kashmir, where the war of terrorism is going on for more than 30 years, this fight seems difficult. However, due to continuous Governor Raj, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is going from bad to worse. To prevent loss of life and property in such cases, the central government should make a concrete strategy after the election with the state government.
PDP President Mehbooba Mufti is terming the recent encounters as fake. What’s your take?
These are the leaders whom we tried to stop from partnering with BJP but then things were very clear to them and now things are not good for them. Now is the time that all the political parties should work together to restore the confidence of the people. All political leaders should try to win the trust of common people instead of criticizing each other.
Things are not well inside J&K Congress. There is infighting in the Congress and rumors of Azad becoming the Chief Minister by forming his own political party?
There is infighting in every party and if such is the case in J&K Congress, it will go away with time. The post of Chief Minister should not be the subject of any political party as of now as only early elections in J&K and restoration of statehood should be the effort of every party at present. It was for the people to decide which party they should trust and which party would be the chief minister.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister and NC leader Omar Abdullah has criticized Ghulam Nabi Azad for his statement on Article 370. Omar said that Article 370 is more important for Congress than any other party because Article 370 was a provision of Congress leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru.
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