National Conference demands restoration of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir

The National Conference on Tuesday demanded that the government should "undo" abrogation of Article 370 saying it was a "historical blunder" and had "not achieved anything".

Participating in the debate on the motion of thanks to the President's address in the Lok Sabha, National Conference MP Hasnain Masoodi said that revocation of Article 370 was "a breach of commitments" made to people of Jammu and Kashmir.

He said apart from earlier commitments, the 1975 Indira-Sheikh accord "gave a guarantee that the relationship will be governed by Article 370".

He said Jammu and Kashmir, before the abrogation of Article 370, was better in development indices from several states of the country and a false narrative was sought to be built.

Masoodi said the decision to revoke Article 370, which gave special powers to Jammu and Kashmir, "denuded the erstwhile state of its identity".

He said militancy has made "inroads" in Jammu and Kashmir and a police officer was held with militants.

"Is there relief from militancy?" he asked and added that encounters continue to take place.

He said a "second look" should be taken at the decision to abrogate Article 370 and it should be "undone".

The parliament had in August last year adopted a resolution to abrogate Article 370. The parliament had also passed a bill to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.

( With inputs from ANI )