Home Minister Amit Shah meets 100-people strong group from Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh after scrapping of Article 370

A delegation of 100 people from Jammu and Kashmir met Home Minister Amit Shah and some senior officials of the ministry at Delhi on Tuesday. The meeting is significant because it is the first interaction of Home Minister Shah with people from Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5. Sources told Zee News that common people from Pulwama, Kashmir Valley, Jammu and Ladakh are part of the delegation.

Justifying the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 and Article 35A, which granted special status to erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Amit Shah had said on Saturday that Article 370 and Article 35A were roadblocks in the complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India, adding that the mandate given by the people of the country made Prime Minister Modi abrogate the same in the first session of Parliament itself.

Shah had said that the move had opened path for development of Jammu and Kashmir. “It was the last nail in the coffin of terrorism. All citizens, barring a few, have supported this move by the government,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also justified the move taken by his government to abrogate Article 370 and had said that the government took the decision in a “completely democratic, open, transparent and Constitutional manner”.

Terming the move by the central government as “internal steps”, Prime Minister Modi said that the development was “designed to end the isolation” of Jammu and Kashmir. The Prime Minister further said that it was the special status of the region that kept Jammu and Kashmir underdeveloped.

Responding to the question on abrogation of Article 370, the Prime Minister said that it served “the vested interests of a few”. He said that it was because of the “isolation” of the region that youth were misguided and even radicalised by anti-India elements.