The measures initiated by the Union government to abrogate Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution with respect to Jammu and Kashmir have evoked mixed reactions in Karnataka, with the Bharatiya Janata Party hailing the move and the Opposition Congress being critical of it. The Janata Dal (Secular) has remained more or less neutral with its leader H.D. Kumaraswamy hoping that it would be good if the move helped in finding a solution to the problems in the Valley.
Former External Affairs Minister and BJP leader S.M. Krishna said it was a “historical necessity” to ensure total and complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir, and the present measure will ensure that India is “One country” with “One people” from Kashmir to Kanyakumari without any discrimination.
“These two provisions of the Constitution were temporary and transient as decided by the Constituent Assembly. But it was a travesty of historical truth that they had wrongly become a permanent phenomenon and also vested interests as well as instrument of vote-bank politics for a few political parties,” he said.
The NDA government at the Centre had “effectively corrected a historical and grave blunder” which was committed by the first Prime Minister of free India, he maintained, while stating that the founding father of the Constitution Dr. B.R. Ambedkar had vehemently opposed the insertion that provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao alleged that the NDA government had created an atmosphere of fear in Jammu and Kashmir by scrapping Article 370. The decision would hurt the country’s unity and integrity in the future. The government’s unilateral decision was dangerous to democracy, he said.
Former Minister Priyank Kharge tweeted, saying “Is it justified? Shutting down an entire state & detaining former CMs & public representatives before taking an important decision that affects that state & its peoples? Not a single representative consulted, nor its people? Is this democracy? What if it was our Karnataka?”