Kashmir Member of European Parliament feels scrapping of Article 370 has empowered people of Kashmir
Glasgow: A Member of European Parliament (MEP), who visited Kashmir last autumn, has said the scrapping of Article 370 by the Indian government last year has empowered Kashmiri people in several ways.
She had visited the Indian region after the scrapping of Article 370 on Aug 5 last year.
Maxette Pirbakas was quoted as saying by ANI, “It (revocation of Article 370) has lifted the artificial barrier that has dwelled in the minds of two generations of Kashmiris on the absence of their links to India and initiated a process of healing and homecoming.”
Jammu and Kashmir observed the first anniversary of the scrapping of Article 370 on Wednesday.
On Aug 5 last year, the Narendra Modi-led NDA government in India scrapped Article 370 and 35A that accorded a special status to the state.
The state of Jammu and Kashmir was acceded to India through the instrument of accession in 1947, under which special status was granted by New Delhi to Jammu and Kashmir, under Article 370.
Article 370 had allowed Jammu and Kashmir to have its own constitution, flag and right to handle its own laws except on matters that impact national security, but it also beacme an obstacle to development in the region wracked by terrorism sponsored by Pakistan and the rule of political oligarchy.
Islamic terrorism also saw the exodus of the Hindu Kashmiri Pandit community from the Valley in 1989-90.
The Modi government also bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir state into two union territories- Jammu and Kashmir with an assembly and Ladakh without an assembly.
The Modi government also scrapped Article 35A, which had allowed the Jammu and Kashmir state's legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state and also provided special rights and privileges to those permanent residents.
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