Will not accept abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir: Pak
Islamabad: Pakistan has said that it will not accept the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution in Kashmir, saying it would be a violation of UN resolutions.
The Article 370 is a "temporary provision" with respect to Jammu and Kashmir and restricts the applicability of various provisions of the Constitution by "curtailing" the power of Parliament to make laws on subjects which fall under the Union and Concurrent lists.
Pakistan's Foreign Office Spokesman Mohammad Faisal, while addressing the media in Islamabad on Friday, made the comments on the issue of abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, saying it will be in violation of the UN resolutions.
"The abrogation of Article 370 of Indian constitution is violation of UN resolutions. We will not accept it under any circumstances and the Kashmiris will also not accept it, he said.
Senior BJP leaders have repeatedly emphasised the party's commitment to abrogate Article 370 from the state.
According to media reports, BJP President Amit Shah said it remains committal to remove the Article from the state but their lack of majority in Rajya Sabha is the reason why it has not been done so far.
Shah's comments were met with some sharp criticism from political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir.
National Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said when the country got independence, a Constitution was created in which certain provisions were kept by which the state's identity could be safeguarded.
"It included Article 370 and Article 35A. Unfortunately, some of our leaders made Article 370 hollow for their personal gains," he said.
His father and National Conference President Farooq Abdullah had said that the relationship between New Delhi and the state will be over if Article 370 is repealed.
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Bihar has 'failed' on all parameters during 21 years of NDA rule: Tejashwi
Patna (PTI): Launching a frontal attack on the Bihar government, RJD's national working president, Tejashwi Yadav, on Thursday, alleged that the state has "failed" on all parameters during the 21 years of NDA rule.
His remarks came four days ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls in Bihar on March 16. Six candidates—five from the ruling NDA and one from the RJD are in the fray for five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar.
In a post on X on Thursday, Yadav wrote, "The NDA government failed on all parameters despite years of a double-engine government. Bihar continues to rank at the bottom of most development indicators even after 21 years of NDA rule."
"Bihar is a unique state where the NDA's double-engine government has been in power for decades, yet the state still performs poorly across several socio-economic indicators. Bihar is the poorest state in the country, has the highest migration, the highest levels of crime and corruption, the highest unemployment, the highest level of multidimensional poverty and highest school dropout rate in the country, lowest literacy rate in the country, and the state has the lowest per capita income in the country," he wrote.
He further claimed that Bihar is the state where farmers' income is lowest in the country, lowest per capita consumption in the country, lowest computer literacy in the country, lowest electricity consumption in the country, lowest basic infrastructure in the country, lowest quality education in the country and the lowest industrial units in the country.
Yadav, who is also Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, said the state is lagging in almost every development indicator. He accused the government of avoiding accountability while running the administration through bureaucratic control, state resources and caste politics.
Ironically, despite being lowest on all development parameters, Bihar is leading in buying expensive gas, leading in buying expensive electricity, leading in buying expensive petrol-diesel, and here buying property is more expensive than in Delhi and Mumbai, he alleged.
State BJP spokesperson, Neeraj Kumar, refuted the charges levelled by Yadav and told PTI, "RJD leader should have compared the current situation in Bihar with the period between 1990 and 2005 when the state was governed by Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi. The condition improved only after the NDA government led by Nitish Kumar came to power in 2005."
