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Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday termed the abrogation of Article 370 and the subsequent reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir seven years ago as a "Constitutional outrage," while questioning the government's timeline for restoring statehood.
Marking the seventh anniversary of the landmark decision that stripped the region of its special status and bifurcated it into two Union Territories, Chidambaram noted that the "story did not end there." Highlighting that a fundamental legal question still remains unanswered by the judiciary, in a post on social media platform X, Chidambaram said, "Seven years ago this day, a Constitutional outrage was perpetrated splitting the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. The story did not end there. The question whether a State can be divided and reduced to UTs was raised before the Hon'ble Supreme Court, but the Court declined to decide that question on the ground that the Government had assured the Court that Statehood will be soon restored." Taking a dig at the central government's repeated assurances regarding the return of statehood to the region, Chidambaram asked, "How soon is 'soon'?" He further expressed concern that the precedent set in Jammu and Kashmir poses a lingering threat to the federal structure of other Indian states. "That sword--power of the Government to break up a State into UTs--still hangs over the States of India. And the important Constitutional question has not been decided by the SC," Chidambaram added. In August 2019, the Central government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, repealed Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, effectively ending the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating the state into two Union Territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Earlier on Tuesday, former J-K Chief Minister and J-K National Conference president Farooq Abdullah called upon the central government to honour the assurances previously given to the local population and the entire country. Talking on the anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370, he said, "The government should fulfil its promise; they have promised to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the country... they should fulfil the promise..." (ANI)
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