New Delhi: Minutes after Union Home Minister Amit Shah made the announcement of scrapping of Article 370, bifurcating the state and announcing their Union Territory status, former Jammu Kashmir chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah termed the move “unilateral and betrayal of trust.”
They said the move will have catastrophic consequences for the sub continent.
Terming it the darkest day in Indian democracy, Mufti through microblogging site Twitter said that the decision of J&K leadership to reject two-nation theory in 1947 and align with India has backfired.
“Unilateral decision of GOI to scrap Article 370 is illegal & unconstitutional which will make India an occupational force in J&K Once again, GOI has pushed Kashmiris to the brink. There is no other way but to oppose this illegal and unconstitutional onslaught on our dignity. The abrogation of Article 370 hasn’t just made accession null and void but also reduces India to an occupational force in Jammu and Kashmir,” the PDP chief stated in a series of tweets.
“Today the people of Jammu and Kashmir who reposed their faith in institutions of India like Parliament and Supreme Court feel defeated and betrayed. By dismembering the state and fraudulently taking away what is rightfully and legally ours, they have further complicated the Kashmir dispute,” she said.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said it was a total “betrayal of trust” of the people of J&K. “Government of India (GOI)'s unilateral and shocking decisions today are a total betrayal of the trust that the people of Jammu & Kashmir had reposed in India when the state acceded to it in 1947. The decisions will have far-reaching and dangerous consequences. This is an aggression against people of the State as had been warned by an all-parties meeting in Srinagar yesterday. GOI has resorted to deceit and stealth in recent weeks to lay the ground for these disastrous decisions. Our darkest apprehensions have unfortunately come true after the GOI and its representatives in J&K lied to us that nothing major was planned,” he said.
He added that the announcement was made after the entire state, particularly the Valley, was turned into a garrison. “Those of us who gave democratic voice to the people of Jammu & Kashmir, are incarcerated as lakhs of armed security personnel have been put on the ground,” he said.
