PM Modi says national interest supreme, attacks Pakistan

New Delhi: Aiming to quell any apprehensions in the minds of the people of J&K on the status of the region after Article 370’s revocation and the state’s bifurcation into two Union territories — J&K and Ladakh — Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing the decision as “historic”, said they too will get all the rights and benefits like the right to education, access to basic amenities as well as employment opportunities, which people in other parts of country have been availing since Independence.

The new mechanism came into effect after Parliament passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill 2019 earlier this week.

Mr Modi said his government respects the objections of those who were opposed to the decision and was working to address them. He, however, asked them to make the national interest supreme and to help the government give Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh a new direction. “Removal of Article 370 is a reality, and it was a well thought out decision,” he said.

The Prime Minister asserted that no one had been able to justify how Article 370 and Article 35A were benefiting people in J&K.

Attacking Pakistan, which has termed India’s move as “unilateral and illegal” and strongly protested by downgrading diplomatic ties, Mr Modi said Pakistan used Article 370 as a “tool to spread terrorism”.