NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir People Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti today said there will be no fiddling with the Article 370, which gives special status to the militancy-hit states.
At the HT leadership summit here, the lawmaker from Anantnag said, “As far as Article 370 is concerned, there’s no fiddling with it.”
The Constitutional provision grants special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. She further said, “If Kashmiris chose to be a part of democratic and secular India (in 1947), we need to be given something in return…We need to be treated special,” said Ms Mufti, whose party runs the coalition government in the state with the BJP.
“If you give someone something, to snatch it away slowly is stealing. Article 370 only strengthens the bond with India,” she added.
On Pakistan, she said there is no alternative to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s policy of reaching out to the people of Kashmir by accommodating Pakistan.
”If we want to deal with terrorism, we have to have cooperation with Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh… We were importing onion from Pakistan even during wars. We need India-Pakistan cooperation to fight terrorism,” she added.
On the Islamic State, Ms Mufti said the militancy group was against the very principle of Islam. (AGENCIES)
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