Article 370 revoked to change J&K demography: CPI(M)

The move to abrogate provisions of Article 370 was aimed at changing the demography of muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir, the CPI(M) said on Thursday.

Speaking at the release of a book, 'Fraud on Constitution, Kashmir Betrayed', CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was "undemocratic" and "unconstitutional".

"It was to turn India, a secular democratic country, into RSS version of the 'hindu rashtra'. It is the only Muslim majority state in India. To change its demographic detail is the original objective of removing Article 370," he said.

Yechury said the manner in which the abrogation was done has set a "dangerous precedent".

"They dissolved the assembly imposing President's rule so as to use the governor as a proxy for an elected government. If they could hold parliamentary elections in the state why not the assembly polls?

"It was done on purpose to not have an elected assembly," he said.

Politburo member Brinda Karat said the BJP was trying to conceal the role of the RSS in the history of Jammu and Kashmir.

"They have lied about the role played by (Sardar) Patel and Syama Prasad Mookerjee in that period. Mookerjee was a member of the Nehru cabinet and was party to every decision taken on Article 370. In fact the first meeting over the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir was held at Patel's house," claimed Karat.

"When the people of Kashmir across religions were united against the feudal bondage of the Maharaja, it was the Praja Parishad, a front of the RSS, which was backing the Maharaja," she alleged, claiming that Article 35A was first conceived by the Maharaja and backed by the Praja Parishad and RSS leadership in Jammu and Kashmir.

"It's a fact of history that when the Maharaja demanded an independent state of Jammu and Kashmir, it was the Praja Parishad and the RSS leaders who fully backed him," she said.