• Article 370 not mentioned in assembly resolution: Tariq Karra
• Congress has no right to misinterpret assembly resolution: MP Ruhullah
Srinagar, Nov 15: A war of words has erupted between coalition allies Congress and National Conference over the resolution passed in the first session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.
While Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge declared Article 370 a “closed chapter,” the National Conference has rebutted Congress’s interpretation of the resolution.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, during a press conference in Maharashtra said that the issue of Article 370 is a “closed chapter” following its abrogation in Parliament in 2019.
Reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s claims that Congress intends to restore Article 370, Kharge dismissed the allegations as baseless and politically motivated.
J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hamid Karra said that the resolution did not explicitly mention the restoration of Article 370. “We have already said that after the Supreme Court verdict on Article 370, the only demand left is statehood,” Karra said.
He accused the BJP of deliberately misrepresenting the resolution for electoral gains. “Despite our clear-cut stance, the BJP is twisting facts for political purposes,” he added.
Karra said that the Congress has maintained consistency on its position and urged the public to focus on the demand for statehood rather than reintroducing debates on Article 370.
National Conference MP from Srinagar, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, criticized the Congress’s interpretation and called it a misrepresentation of the resolution.
In a post on “X”, Mehdi said, “No INC president or JKPCC president has the right to misinterpret the resolution passed by the J&K Legislative Assembly.”
He said that the resolution explicitly disapproves of all amendments and the unconstitutional abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status from 1953 to 2019.
The resolution calls for restoring all guarantees in their original form, including Article 370 and 35A, the post on “X” added.
“This resolution represents the will of the people to undo all unconstitutional actions taken since 1953. Any attempt to misinterpret it will be rejected by the public, just as the allies of the BJP were in the last elections,” Mehdi said.
Sajad Lone seeks clarification from NC over Kharge’s statement
Peoples Conference president Sajad Gani Lone on Friday demanded a clarification from National Conference over Congress president Malikarjun Kharge’s statement on the Article 370.
In a post on X, formerly twitter, Lone questioned the National Conference over the stance of its ally on the Article 370 issue.
“Now even the All India President of Congress, Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge, has clarified that they never talked about getting Article 370 back. Do the people of Jammu and Kashmir not deserve even a clarification from the National Conference?” Lone asked.
Lone alongwith PDP’s Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, Mir Muhammad Fayaz and independent legislators Sheikh Khursheed and Shabir Ahmed Kullay had brought a resolution condemning all August 5, 2019 actions in strongest terms and seeking their immediate restoration.“This House strongly condemns the unconstitutional and unilateral abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A, along with the enactment of the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, by the Government of India. These actions stripped Jammu & Kashmir of its special status and statehood, undermining the foundational guarantees and protections originally accorded to the region and its people by the Constitution of India,” the resolution submitted by them reads.
It added: “This House unequivocally demands the immediate restoration of Article 370 and Article 35A in their original, unaltered form, and calls for the reversal of all changes introduced by the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. We further urge the Government of India to respect the constitutional and democratic sanctity of Jammu & Kashmir by reinstating all special provisions and guarantees intended to preserve its distinct identity, culture, and political autonomy”—(KNO)
