February 25
Few days before the hearing of petition challenging Article 35a, the former chief minister of Jammu Kashmir, Omar Abdullah on Monday said any fiddling with Jammu Kashmir’s special status would have serious and far-reaching consequences in the state.
Warning the situation will turn far worse, the former chief minister, he said that the situation would turn worse than the one in Arunachal Pradesh if the rights under Article 35A and Article 370 of the Constitution were fiddled with.
“I want to tell the Centre that see the situation in Arunachal Pradesh, where there is no militancy, no stone-pelting. A peaceful state like Arunachal Pradesh is also up in flames. The people there have hit the roads in order to save their permanent resident status. Situation in Kashmir would turn worse if the article was tinkered with,” Omar said.
He added that it was his duty to warn New Delhi about the consequences of any tampering with the special status of Jammu Kashmir.
Calling for early elections, he said, the Centre and the Governor S P Malik-led administration in the state should leave the defense of Article 370 and Article 35A to a new, popular government elected after the Assembly polls.
Referring to the reports of emergence of a third front in Kashmir, he said it was being “manufactured to split up” the people’s mandate in the valley.