Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Wednesday expressed happiness over the abrogation of Article 370, saying the nation would celebrate this Independence day along with an “independent Kashmir”.Speaking at a celebration ahead of Independence Day in Chhota Udepur at a Yuva Samm-elan (youth conference), Rupani equated the removal of special status of Jammu and Kashmir with it becoming independent, and congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the “historical” step. He also said Kashmir was now “an integral part of the country in a true sense”.
Reminding the youth of the independence struggle and its leaders such as Subhash Chandra Bose, VD Savarkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Rupani recalled the history of how they “fought against British rule, sacrificed their lives during the struggle, were arrested, lathi-charged and shot at. But they faced all of this to fulfill their dreams of a free India.”