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'The Modi government is scrapping Article 370 for their vote bank and fooling people'
'Scrapping of Article 370 is like hurting the sentiments of the Kashmiri people'
Minutes after Home Minister Amit Shah announced the government's move to scrap Article 370 that gives special status to the state, Peoples Democratic Party's Rajya Sabha MP Nazir Ahmad Laway created a ruckus against the move.
With black bands tied to their arms and wrists, Laway and another PDP Rajya Sabha member Fayaz Ahmad staged a protest outside Parliament against the Narendra Modi government’s big move on Kashmir.
"People will feel cheated as they always felt a part of India. We want to be with India and we want the people of India to accept us," Laway tells Rediff.com’s Syed Firdaus Ashraf in an interview.
Your first reaction to the government’s move to scrap Article 370.
This was in our Constitution.
It is not an ordinary article of the Indian Constitution.
Now the government will scrap it, which will be huge loss to the state of J&K.
The outcome from this will be very dangerous.
Wasn’t Article 370 a temporary arrangement?
Article 370 was not temporary.
It was made by the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.
He was a good leader. He freed India from British rule.
He had brains. He was a smart man.
He knew India and therefore he got Article 370 to keep J&K with India.
He made Indian Constitution. And Now they are erasing that Constitution.
Even Sardar Patel supported Nehru.
But Sardar Patel died in 1950 and Article 370 was incorporated in 1954, isn’t it?
He was a good leader and a great freedom-fighter.
He knew about the special status being given to J&K in the Indian Constitution.
Now the Modi government has started the erosion of the Constitution of India.
J&K people believe in the Indian Constitution.
Scrapping Article 370 is like hurting the sentiments of the Kashmiri people.
People are angry now and are worried.
What adverse effects do you foresee from the move?
Now the situation in J&K will worsen further.
People will feel cheated as they always felt a part of India.
We want to be with India and we want the people of India to accept us.
It is said that scrapping of Article 370 needs the nod of the J&K assembly, how far is that true?
Yes, the Modi government cannot scrap Article 370 without the nod of the J&K assembly.
We are therefore going to go to court and appeal soon on this.
But...
(Interrupts) You know about this and I know about this but the common people of India do not know about this.
The Modi government has finished everything for us.
Good people know how important Article 370 is for India.
The Modi government is scrapping Article 370 for their vote bank and fooling people.