People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Dr Mehboob Beg tipped off the Congress for raising the bogey of Article 370 and 35-A.
“I would advise the Congress to flip the pages of historyand see how they played their part in eroding the special status enjoyed by theJ&K. To speak about preserving the special status of the state is onething, but how they acted when in power is for anyone to see,” Dr Beg, in astatement today, said.
He said, “Let the Congress first answer as to who was responsiblefor changing the nomenclature of the Prime Minister of J&K to ChiefMinister, who changed ‘Sadr-e-riyasat’ to ‘Governor’? The Congresssinglehandedly eroded Article 370 and everything guaranteed pursuant to it andthey have the cheek to tell us that they will safeguard our special status. Hadthey done what they had to, we would not have come to this.”
“It is better they stick to talking about developmentrelated issues; to wander into the realm of supporting article 370/35A does notsuit them, we are all aware of the history. They are now telling us that theywill nominate interlocutors, they have done it in the past as well, only to buytime and mislead us. What good has ever come out of this?” the statementstated.
Dr Beg said, “Justice Sageer did recommend restoration ofthe special status granted to the State, what happened to it? Committeereports, working group recommendations, expert opinions – they are all lying ina dustbin.”
“The only difference in the way the Congress and the BJPhave dealt with Kashmir is that the BJP has been brazen, insensitive andaggressive while the Congress has eroded our special status hiding behind sweetwords and achieved results stealthily,” he added.