National Conference (NC) leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has accused the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the abrogation of Article 370 as a political football.
Otherwise, said Omar, why would the prime minister promote a movie made around Article 370. He alleged that even those who celebrated the abrogation in Jammu and Ladakh are now unhappy
“People of J&K had an emotional connect with Article 370. Even those who celebrated its abrogation on August 5, 2019 are now mourning its absence,” said Omar, the vice president of the National Conference.
“I cannot forget how people from Leh distributed sweets then and now the same people are asking for special status,” he said.
Omar’s response came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that Article 370 was used for political gains and a few families took advantage of it before it was abrogated in August 2019.
“For decades, for political gains, Congress and its allies misled the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the name of 370 and misled the country. Did Jammu and Kashmir benefit from Article 370 or were only a few political families taking advantage of it? The people of Jammu and Kashmir have come to know the truth that they were misled. Jammu and Kashmir was kept in chains for the benefit of a few families,” Prime Minister Modi said in Srinagar on Thursday during his first visit to Kashmir Valley since the abrogation of Article 370 by his government in 2019.
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“If somebody has used Article 370, it is the BJP. It’s been a political football for the BJP. And they have been using this football time and again. Otherwise, why would Mr Prime Minister sell tickets (promote) of a movie. The PM comes to Jammu and praises Bollywood films made on Article 370. If this isn’t political use of Article 370 what is,” Abdullah said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a rally in Jammu on February 20 said that Article 370 movie would be useful for people to get the correct information. “I have heard that perhaps a film on Article 370 is going to be released this week. I think your ‘Jai Jai Kaar’ (cheers) are going to be heard all over the country,” the PM said.
Produced by Aditya Dhar, renowned for his directorial work on “Uri: The Surgical Strike”, Yami Gautam starrer ‘Article 370’ essays the role of an intelligence agent in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370.
The Union government on August 5, 2019, revoked Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated it into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
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Published: 08 Mar 2024, 06:19 PM IST
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