Govt's Claim That Article 370 Abrogation Would Improve J&K Situation Turned Out To Be false: 'Saamana'

The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Friday targeted the Narendra Modi government over the recent killing of security personnel in Kashmir, and said the Centre's claim that the situation in the Valley would normalise after the abrogation of Article 370 has turned out to be false.

In an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', it said the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is not right, but the Modi government is immersed in the success of G20. 

"The Centre painted a picture that things would be normal post (abrogation of) Article 370, but it turned out to be false eventually," it said.

Colonel Manpreet Singh, commanding officer of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles unit of the Army, Major Ashish Dhonchak, Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Humayun Bhat and a soldier were killed in an encounter with the terrorists at Gadole in the Kokernag area of the south Kashmir district on Wednesday morning.

The editorial said that although more than four years have passed since the abrogation of special provisions of Article 370, which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir, assembly elections have not been held in the Valley. 

Not holding elections out of fear that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will lose is betrayal of people, it said.

Despite the claims made at the time of the abrogation of Article 370 that Kashmiri Pandits will return home, new industries will be set up and job opportunities will be created in the Valley, nothing of that sort has happened so far, it claimed.

"What has the BJP government achieved by scrapping Article 370 and making Ladakh a separate union territory?" the Uddhav Thackeray-led party asked.

"This government cannot take back our land in Ladakh, it cannot protect Kashmiri Pandits, it cannot stop the sacrifices of soldiers and stop infiltration and it cannot calm the Kashmiri minds. It is the failure of the government," the party said.