STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: State BJP Spokesperson, Prof. Virender Gupta, while reacting to Farooq Abdullah’s statement that Autonomy remains only constitutional remedy to Kashmir Issue, said that Kashmir does not constitute whole of Jammu and Kashmir State, but it is merely about sixteen percent of the area of Jammu and Kashmir, which is presently in India.
He reminded Farooq Abdullah that all the kings of the princely states signed the same Instrument of Accession, surrendering their subjects and it was Maharaja Hari Singh, who signed the Instrument of Accession, thereby acceded the State to Indian Union and not Sheikh Abdullah as claimed by Farooq. He further said that Article 370 was incorporated in the Indian Constitution as a temporary provision because of special conditions prevailing at that time.
He said that issue of Autonomy under Article 370 raised by separatists and the so called leaders of the mainstream parties did not allow the people of Jammu and Kashmir, in particular that of Valley, to become the part of the national mainstream.
Prof. Virender Gupta further added that permanent solution of Jammu and Kashmir, that can bring peace and prosperity, lies in the abrogation of Article 370 and not in granting the so-called Greater Autonomy.