New Delhi: Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Tuesday said that the abrogation of Article 370 will make way for solving numerous problems being faced by the people of the region and will further empower and give more rights to the people of Jammu, Kashmir, and Laddakh, especially women.
He said that the land which was called the heaven on Earth had been turned into a hell-like place for the people by the militants and the separatists who took the shield of the Article 370 and also misguided people for their vested interests for a long period.
He said that now with the scrapping of 370, the central government will be able to develop educational infrastructure and implement other important schemes without any kind of blockade, that will not only protect the culture of the region but will also empower the people on financial front by generating employment.
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This move will further empower them with more constitutional rights, he said. Article 370 which was a temporary arrangement, was portrayed as a "constitutional compulsion" by some in power '' Satta ke Thekedar'' for the last 70 years, while they exploited the innocent people of the state, Mr. Naqvi stressed.
The region of Jammu, Kashmir, Laddakh, even after being an integral part of the country , was deprived of the constitutional rights that every citizen has because of Article 370 that resulted into no right to education, no right to information, no political reservation, hurdle in industrial revolution, blockade of women rights in the state.
However, scrapping of 370 will give wings to not only the aspirations of the people of the region but will empower the women of the state who earlier faced a number of difficulties, said the minister.
He said that the Government of India, so far sent Rs 2 lakh 77 thousand crores between the year 2004 to 2019 for development of Jammu and Kashmir and its people, however, the same was allegedly looted and not put in any development work by those who governed the state in a self-styled manner.
It took decades for the historic mistake to be rectified, despite the fact that great personalities like Dr. Bheem Rao Ambedkar, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, Maulana Hasrat Mohani, who gave a call of "Inquilab Zindabad", were against 370 and considered it against the interests of Jammu and Kashmir and the country.
He further said that due to 370, democracy was never strengthened in Jammu and Kashmir and furthermore it helped corruption flourish in the valley which elevated to extremes.