SOURCE: HT
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)?has dubbed as “seditious” National Conference chief and MP Farooq Abdullah’s comment that he wished that with China’s support, Article 370 will be restored in Jammu and Kashmir.
Abdullah, also a former chief minister of J&K, said in a television interview that China never accepted the reading down of Article 370 which gave special status to the erstwhile state.
Lashing out at Abdullah, BJP’s Sambit Patra said, “It is saddening as well as worrying. A sitting MP is using such words for the country. He thinks that China’s aggression is because abrogation of Article 370 has happened. He categorically states that since Indian Parliament abrogated Article 370, China is disturbed and that is why China’s aggression is justified. He seems to justify the expansionist tendencies of China.”
Terming the statement as “seditious” he said, “If you have reservations about the democratic process you’re allowed to talk about it but to say that you will join hands with another country to reinstall something is condemnable. This is also seditious.”
Patra said this was not the first time that he has said spoken against national interest. “On September 24, he said if you ask people in J&K whether they are Indian, they will say, ‘No we don’t want to be in India and we don’t to be part of India’. In the same statement he also said it would be good if we merge with China. To raise questions about the independence and sovereignty of the country does not behove a Member of Parliament,” he said.
Patra also attacked the Congress leadership for making statements against the sovereignty of the country. “If you look at the statements made by Rahul Gandhi, you will realise that Farooq Abdullah and Rahul Gandhi are the two sides of the same coin. Hatred for Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led them to the extent of hating the country. A few days ago, Gandhi had said that India’s prime minister has surrendered, is a coward and he’s hiding,” Patra said.
The Congress leader had questioned the surgical strike and the air strikes become a hero in Pakistan, the BJP leader said.
