Kerala CM's protest against removal of Article 370 is political expediency: Ram Madhav

BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for his stance against the dilution of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, saying that Vijayan's protest was an act of "political expediency".

"Those protesting against the dilution of Article 370 should know it was against the fundamental rights. Those people are protesting either because of ignorance or because of political expediency. I cannot say the Kerala Chief Minister is ignorant, so it must be his political expediency," Madhav said at an event titled New India, New Kashmir, in Kochi on Sunday.

Further hitting out at Communist parties for protesting against the removal of special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Madhav added that the BJP-led government had done away with a "draconian" law which denied people their fundamental rights.

"One state that does not have a minority or women's commission is Jammu and Kashmir. It also does not have Right to Education. Further, laws which denied the rights given by the Indian Constitution to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes in Jammu and Kashmir, was due to the draconian Article 370. It is the same Article 370 which the Communists of the CPM, LDF and UDF are supporting," Madhav said.

"The people of Kerala can easily appreciate the significance of this decision by Prime Minister Modi. I am saying this because even without Article 370 you see Pakist flags being raised here, imagine what the situation would be if 370 had been there," he said.

Madhav supported the dilution of Article 370 by claiming that it created two classes of people in Jammu and Kashmir.

"It created two sets of people, one set with more rights than the other. One class was the state subjects while the other was all others, that was Article 370 which we wanted to be removed. The CPM and LDF, UDF will have to answer to the people why they want to support 370," he said.

Further attacking the Communist parties, Madhav said, "Jinnah propagated two-nation theory. Sheikh Abdullah proposed a three-nation theory which we did away with the dilution of Article 370 under Prime Minister Modi. But we should also remember that the Communists wanted a 16 nation theory, so they would always clap for any separation and would cheer for any separatist movement."

( With inputs from ANI )