Rahul on scrapping Article 370: 'Abuse of executive power, grave implications for national security'

Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi broke his silence on the ongoing Kashmir tension and said that the Narendra Modi government’s bold move of scrapping the Article 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir will have grave implications. “National integration isn’t furthered by unilaterally tearing apart J&K, imprisoning elected representatives and violating our Constitution. This nation is made by its people, not plots of land. This abuse of executive power has grave implications for our national security,” Gandhi said on Twitter. (KASHMIR LIVE UPDATES)

Gandhi’s statement comes at a time when a top commander of the Indian Army has said that ‘Pakistan has intensified its efforts at increasing the strength of terrorists in launch pads along the Line of Control over the past few days and pushing infiltrators into Jammu and Kashmir’. General Officer Commanding in Chief, Northern Command, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh added that Pakistan is also initiating ceasefire violations. A day after the government revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and proposed to split it into two union territories, Lt Gen Singh chaired a meeting of the Core Group of Intelligence and Security Agencies at Srinagar to review the operational readiness to meet any contingency that could adversely impact the security situation.

Earlier on Monday, the government revoked Article 370 to take away Jammu and Kashmir's special status, and proposed the bifurcation of the state into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, a bold and far-reaching decision that seeks to redraw the map and future of a region at the centre of a protracted militancy movement.

Fulfilling an electoral promise of the BJP less than 90 days after the Modi 2.0 government took power, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the decision in the Rajya Sabha, which approved both the resolution and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation bill. The chiefs of the two parties, NC's Omar Abdullah and PDP's Mehbooba Mufti, as well as People's Conference's leader Sajjad Lone were arrested in Srinagar on Monday evening, officials said.

RELATED