PM Modi completed Nehru's unfinished task by abrogating Article 370 Union minister Jitendra Singh

New Delhi, Aug 5 (PTI) Asserting that Article 370 was a miscarriage of constitution, democracy and justice, Union minister Jitendra Singh on Monday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed Nehru's unfinished task by abrogating it.
     Modi vindicated Syama Prasad Mukherjee’s commitment to the nation by abrogation of Article 370, he said on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of removal of the special provision from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
     Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, recalled that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had himself gone on record to say that Article 370 was temporary. “Modi completed Nehru's unfinished task by abrogating Article 370," he said.
     “Article 370 was a miscarriage of constitution, democracy and justice which the people of Jammu and Kashmir had to endure for seven decades under the garb of so-called special status granted by the temporary provision,” he said.
     Singh said that "we are in the last phase of militancy" and the Centre has been successful in containing militancy "post 370" and added that pattern-based militancy is over.
     The minister said terrorists are on the run and keep attacking soft targets just to stay relevant but soon that too will be contained.
     He also recalled that the Centre abolished the interview process for junior-level jobs and appointments way back in 2016 but it was implemented in J&K only after abrogation of Article 370, giving level playing field to youth from even the remotest districts.
     “The hands which pelted stones are now holding computers and iPads”, said Singh, a Lok Sabha member from J-K's Udhampur constituency.
     "Protests erupt in Pakistan occupied Jammu-Kashmir (PoJK) over injustice amidst contrasting pictures painted by the Pakistan government before the outside world.
     “Regardless of the lies spread about the alleged unfair treatment meted out to people of J&K in India, people of illegally-occupied PoJK feel deprived and envy people of J&K when they see the incredible development here,” he was quoted as having said in a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry.
     Singh said that the "historic decision" of abrogation of Article 370 brought citizenship rights to a vast population in J&K who were deprived of it for the last seven decades.
     He said that hoisting the national flag was once a dream for many and now the tricolour is hoisted on every government office in J&K.
     Singh expressed his anguish over three generations of Jammu and Kashmir being sacrificed for the "false dream of freedom".
     "Whereas the people with vested interests sent their own children abroad for studies, they used the children of others to be sacrificed for the so-called freedom struggle and also deprived them of education and opportunities, so much so that the youth had lost hope and given up their dreams," the minister said.
     The Centre on August 5, 2019 revoked Article 370 of the Constitution which provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir within the Indian Union. The government also brought the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act that bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union territories -- Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.
     After the abrogation of Article 370, the aspirations in youth have rekindled, he said.
     Singh said, for the first time, the unexplored natural resources and dormant human resources within J&K have resurfaced, the latest example being the "Purple Revolution" originating from Bhaderwah, which has given India a new genre of agri-startups and holds the promise of contributing significant value addition to India's economy.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)