Article 370: Gandhi Peace Foundation slams govt

The Gandhi Peace Foundation slammed the Union government on Friday for revoking Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcating it into union territories, and accused it of using force to "silence" the people of the Valley.

In a statement, the foundation said one state has "disappeared" due to this "undemocratic" decision.

It said Jammu and Kashmir had acceded to India with some condition and Article 370 of the Constitution was an outcome of this.

The government has asserted that the voiding of Article 370 will lead to curbing of terrorism and usher in development.

Article 370 has ended up fuelling separatism, terrorism and corruption in Jammu and Kashmir, it has said.

Responding to the ruling BJP's assertion that a handful of people, including three families, were behind the corruption and other troubles in the region, the foundation said the government should have acted against them if this was true but.

But the entire Valley has been turned into a "jail", it alleged.

It said there is a need to stand with the people of Kashmir and asked the government to allow them to express themselves.

The foundation's president Kumar Prashant, Gandhi Smarak Nidhi's Ramchandra Rahi, The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies' Ashish Nandy and Raza Foundation's Ashok Vajpeyi are among the signatories to the statement, according to the statement.