Scrapping of Article 370 will end terrorism in Kashmir: Home Minister Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian constitution, that gave special status to the region of Jammu and Kashmir, will lead to the end of terrorism and progress of the region. Shah reiterated that Article 370 should've been removed long ago as it was not beneficial to the country.

“As a legislator, I firmly believe Article 370 should've been removed long ago. As a Home Minister, there was no confusion in my mind about the consequences of removing Article 370. I'm confident terrorism in Kashmir will finish and it'll move ahead on the path of development now,” the Union Home Minister said at the launch of a book on Vice President M Venkiah Naidu.

The BJP-led government's move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the border state into two Union territories secured Parliament's approval on Tuesday with the Lok Sabha passing the new measures with an over two-thirds majority. The Rajya Sabha gave its approval to the resolution on Monday.

The government had announced the removal of some provisions of Article 370 to take away Jammu and Kashmir's special status and proposed bifurcation of the state into two Union territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh - a far-reaching decision that seeks to redraw the map and future of a region at the centre of protracted militancy. 

Meanwhile, Ministry of Home Affairs is reportedly planning to serve legal notices to news organisations if they are prima facie found projecting "fabricated and provocative" stories leading to law and order situation in the sensitive Valley region of Jammu and Kashmir.

The development comes after some media outlets claimed, attributing ‘facts’ to foreign news agencies, that Valley has been witness to a large scale protest and violence on Friday. Reuters had reported that police used tear gas and pellets to fight back at least 10,000 people protesting Delhi's withdrawal of special rights for Jammu and Kashmir in its main city of Srinagar on Friday.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police has also said that the situation in the state was peaceful and no untoward incident has been reported in last one week. "There has been no untoward incident barring minor stone-pelting which was dealt with on the spot and was nipped in the bud," Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh told news agency PTI.