Chrungoo criticises PDP President’s statement on Article 370

New Delhi , Dec 19 : Senior BJP and Kashmiri Pandit leader Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo has criticised the statement of PDP President Mehbooba Mufti on the return of Article 370.

"The statement of PDP President Mehbooba Mufti regarding the so-called return of Article 370 is a new ploy to further hoodwink the public opinion in Jammu and Kashmir. Article 370 is a thing of past and has been put into the dustbin of history. Any attempt to link it to a flimsy sort of honour and dignity is tantamount to blackmailing the sentiments of people and is hence unacceptable," said Chrungoo in a statement.

He referred to Mehbooba Mufti's statement in which she said that "the Supreme Court's decision on Article 370 is not God's verdict". “In a corollary, the Article 370 and the decision to include it in the constitution itself were not also the God's decision. Constitutions and provisions in the constitution are always subject to change as per the requirements of time and space. In a parliamentary democratic set-up, the right to change the constitution or its provisions rests with the legislature and the Parliament of the country is the supreme sovereign body to take the call,” the BJP leader said.

He stated that Pandit Nehru, whom Mehbooba refers every now and then in this regard, said in the constituent assembly of India that there is no permanence in constitutions. The PDP President and likes her need to take some lessons from the political developments of past and shun politics of blackmail, hoodwinking the opinion of the people and exploitation of people's sentiments for political power.

"The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it amply clear that no power in the universe could give back the Article 370 in future. “One needs to understand before making a statement that the decision to abrogate Article 370, the so-called special status and the paraphernalia attached to it was taken by the government of India unanimously followed by the approval of the Parliament with an overwhelming majority. The Supreme Court's judgement gave the political and legislative action the necessary constitutional teeth and validity which will remain unchallenged for ever,"Chrungoo said.