Congress Didn’t Oppose Jammu & Kashmir Decision: Manmohan Singh

Former PM and Congress leader Manmohan Singh said on Thursday that the Congress had not opposed but supported the proposal to revoke Article 370 giving special status to Jammu & Kashmir in both houses of Parliament. “We are not opposed to (the move to scrap) Article 370. Our contention is that the NDA government could not secure the goodwill of the people of J&K owing to high-handedness at all levels,” he said. On the state government’s proposal to confer the Bharat Ratna on Veer Savarkar, Singh said the Congress was never against Savarkar but was against the ideology of Hindutva promoted by him. “None other than Indira Gandhi, when she was Prime Minister, had taken the lead in releasing a postal stamp in memory of Savarkar,” he noted. PM Modi had on Wednesday defended the mention of revoking Article 370 as an election issue by saying that many soldiers from Maharashtra had sacrificed their lives while battling terrorists in the troubled state. Terming the opposition as “shameless,” the PM told them “doob maro” (go drown) for their stance on the issue. “Look at their faces, they looked dejected and their glow has gone after their plans were foiled. I want them to hear clearly that Kashmir and its people will stay with Mother India. All Indian citizens are with them in fighting terrorism sponsored by the neighboring country. There is not a single district where soldiers have not sacrificed their lives for maintaining peace in Kashmir,” he had said at a poll rally in the state.