New Delhi: Reacting to the Supreme Court’s verdict on the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi expressed his dissatisfaction with the judgment and took a jibe at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party saying it might now attempt to convert Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai into union territories.
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the BJP-led Central government’s 2019 decision to revoke Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. The court also refused to reverse the decision to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.
“We are not satisfied with this decision. Kashmir has always been an integral part of India. Today you made one state into 2 UTs. Parliament is speaking for them, not their Assembly. The Supreme Court also upheld the reorganization of Ladakh as a Union Territory. So this can be done with anyone also. Now in the coming days, BJP will try to make the union territories of Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai and no one will be able to stop it,” he said.
“The question is that when you are abrogating Article 370 by imposing a curfew, there is no elected assembly. Then who deliberated in Kashmir? In my view, Article 370 abrogation is a violation of constitutional morality and the division that has taken place of a state, this is a big betrayal to the people of Kashmir,” he added.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said the SC’s decision was the defeat of the idea of India.
“We should not be disheartened… J&K has seen several ups and downs… SC’s verdict stating Article 370 was a temporary provision, is not our defeat, but the defeat of the idea of India… I want to say this to the people of the country that many of you are celebrating this (verdict)…Today J&K was converted into a jail, and all the shopkeepers were directed that they will not open their shops before 10 am. We were under house arrest… This is a political war which has been going on for ages, and a lot of people have sacrificed their lives for this. We will not leave this, we have to come together and fight,” she said.
Shiv Sena (UBT), meanwhile, welcomed the decision.
“We hope the J&K elections will be held at the earliest. Before elections, if PoK is included, then this exercise can be held in the entire Kashmir,” he said.
Congress leader and the son of Jammu and Kashmir’s last emperor Hari Singh, Karan Singh welcomed the verdict and urged everyone to accept the inevitable.
“A section of people in J&K who will not be happy with this judgment, my sincere advice is that they should accept the inevitable and they should accept the fact that now this has been done and the Supreme Court has upheld the action and therefore there’s no point now unnecessarily hitting their head against the wall,” he added.
With inputs from ANI
