SRINAGAR, MAR 29 (PTK): National Conference leader Omar Abdullah hit out at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for advocating repeal of Jammu and Kashmir's special status, saying any such talk will raise questions on the accession of the state to India as well.
Omar Abdullah while addressing press conference in Srinagar said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leadership would have to tread carefully on this issue and the terms and condition cannot be renegotiated.
"If you want to debate Article 370 and Article 35A, then I am sorry, there will be questions raised on the accession as well, because accession was on these very terms," Omar Abdullah said.
“Article 35-A has safeguarded the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on which the instrument of accession was signed with India,” Omar said in while addressing a press conference at R K Sarovar Portico Hotel in Srinagar.
He added, “The danger to J&K’s special status has increased manifold since the entry of BJP in the government of J&K.”
Omar also reacted to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement about Article 35-A that the Article in question has been a reason for state’s poverty. Omar said that it was the start of militancy in 1989 that damaged Kashmir’s economy.
“Article 35A exists since Maharaja’s time and is not the byproduct of militancy. Before 1989, Kashmir’s GDP was thriving. We had many industrial units here,” Omar said.
“Many people, not only from Kashmir, but also from Jammu and Ladakh, want to retain Article 35A and Article 370,” he claimed.
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