"Sardar Patel, Syama Prasad Mukherjee attended meet on Art 370, Nehru was in US": Farooq Abdullah

NEW DELHI: Coming out in defence of Jawahar Lal Nehru after the BJP blamed the country's first prime minister for decades of violence and instability in Jammu and Kashmir and the special constitutional privileges for the erstwhile state under Article 370, NC stalwart and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday claimed the former was in the US when the special provision was brought.

Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, the former Jammu and Kashmir CM claimed then Union Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and saffron ideologue and Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee were involved in the process of according special constitutional privileges to the erstwhile state.

"I don't know why they (BJP) have so much venom against (Pandit Jawaharlal) Nehru. Nehru is not the one responsible (for providing special status to J-K under Article 370). When this article (370) was brought, Sardar Patel was here (in Parliament) and Pandit Nehru was in America. When the cabinet meeting (on the imposition of the special constitutional provision) took place, Syama Prasad Mukherjee was also party to it. It was at this meeting that the decision was taken," the NC stalwart said.

Abdullah said he was hopeful that the Supreme Court would direct the Centre to conduct immediate elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

The apex court, while upholding the revocation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir in a landmark ruling on Monday, set a deadline of September next year for the Centre to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and hold elections there.

"We want immediate elections to take place in Kashmir but the Supreme Court gave them time till September. Where's the justice?" he said.

On whether the Centre should initiate efforts to take back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) from Pakistan, the National Conference chief said," They should take it. Who is stopping them? The government has to make a decision. Who are we to decide?"

In a landmark ruling on Monday, the Supreme Court upheld the Union government's decision to abrogate Article 370 of the constitution, which accorded certain special privileges to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, stating that every decision taken by the Centre on behalf of a state can't be subject to a legal challenge.

A five-judge Constitution bench, comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant, delivered the historic verdict.

CJI Chandrachud, reading out from the judgement, said every decision taken by the Centre on behalf of a State under proclamation can't be subject to a legal challenge and it will lead to the administration of the state to a standstill.

Hailing the landmark ruling, upholding the revocation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the verdict strengthened the spirit of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat', adding that the Articles 370 and 35A deprived people in the erstwhile state of rights enjoyed by fellow citizens across the country.

"In very basic words- Articles 370 and 35 (A) were like major obstacles. It seemed like an unbreakable wall and the sufferers were the poor and downtrodden. Articles 370 and 35(A) ensured that the people of Jammu and Kashmir never got the rights and development that the rest of their fellow Indians got. Due to these Articles, a distance was created between people belonging to the same nation," PM Modi said.

However, Congress on Monday said they disagreed with the Supreme Court judgement, upholding the Centre's abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.

"We respectfully disagree with the judgment on the manner in which Article 370 was abrogated," P Chidambaram said.

Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah targeted former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and blamed him for Pakistan's illegal occupation of a portion of Kashmir, known as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Shah was speaking in the Rajya Sabha during a discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

Also, in Lok Sabha last week, Shah said that Nehru made two big mistakes due to which Kashmir had to suffer for many years.

"The Supreme Court has affirmed that Article 370 was a temporary provision in the Indian Constitution. I would like to pose a question to those who adhere to Nehru's philosophy: If Article 370 was extremely important, why did Nehru himself use the term 'Temporary' in relation to the article? Everyone who says that Article 370 is permanent is insulting the Constitution!" he said.