Srinagar: The foreign minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday said that Jammu and Kashmir has seen real democracy, development, good governance and development in the last two years, since the abrogation of limited-autonomy of the region.
Today, 5 August, marks two years since the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A, which gave special rights over land, laws, jobs and residentship to natives of Jammu and Kashmir. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had claimed that the move will take J-K towards the path of development and peace.
Jaishankar further added, “India’s unity and integrity has been immeasurably strengthened.”.
Commenting on the second anniversary of the abrogation, Jagat Prakash Nadda, the president of the BJP, said that 5 August will be “etched in the memory of every Indian as Prime Minister Narendra Modi fulfilled the long pending dream of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee of “Ek Vidhan-Ek Samvidhan” by abrogating article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.”
Nadda added that the abrogation “restored the paradise on Earth back to its glory”.
Another political leader, the Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sharma shared a graphic on his Twitter handle, claiming that the number of “terrorist incidents have declined by about 53% in the valley while the number of stone pelting cases have declined by about 56%.”
“The historic abrogation of article 370 has created a new Jammu and Kashmir that has rejected violence and embraced development. It is a testament to the leadership of PM and HM that peace in J&K has been restored,” wrote Sharma.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Kashmir witnessed a partial shutdown, with Srinagar city being forced to open. The Jammu and Kashmir police was seen cutting locks of shut shops and asking shopkeepers to open shops and not observe a shutdown. In downtown area, outside the grand mosque, a blast followed by gunshots were also reported earlier in the day.
