As Jammu and Kashmir is undergoing polls after nearly a decade, Pakistan has identified its ideological ‘allies’ in the National Conference and Congress alliance. Khawaja Asif, the Defence Minister of Pakistan in an interview with GeoNews said that Pakistan and the NC-Congress alliance are on the same page to reinstate Article 370 which was removed by the Modi government in 2019.
“Pakistan and National Conference-Congress alliance are on the same page in Jammu & Kashmir to restore Article 370 and 35A. Since Modi did this attack (abrogation of Article 370 and 35A) so many Kashmiris were brutally killed,” Khawaja Asif claimed.
#BREAKING: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Hamid Mir’s Capital Talk on Geo News says, “Pakistan and National Conference-Congress alliance are on the same page in Jammu & Kashmir to restore Article 370 and 35A”. Big statement amid assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir. pic.twitter.com/vxEVFZI0BK
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) September 19, 2024
Pakistani news anchor Hamid Mir also emphasised how the Congress has openly declared that if voted to power, they will restore Article 370 and 35A. To this, Khawaja Asif suggested that it would be a great ‘relief’ to the people of Kashmir.
Notably, Congress leader Pawan Khera on Monday said that the Congress-National Conference alliance will restore the right of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
“Jammu and Kashmir was a state whose rights were taken away, its statehood was taken away, it was made a Union Territory and it must get back this right. We will get back this right of Jammu and Kashmir. If you look at the track record of Congress in the last ten years, be it Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, wherever we have formed governments we implemented our guarantees. People have faith in us. We have put our entire agenda in front of the public in our manifesto…,” Khera said.
It is pertinent to note that while the Congress party has deemed the abrogation of Article 370 as some sort of snatching of the rights of Kashmiri people, the five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the abrogation of Article 370 which gave Jammu and Kashmir a special status. Even as the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the removal of Article 370, the Congress party and its ally National Conference are evidently trying to encash the votes of anti-India Islamist extremists even if that means reducing themselves to Pakistan’s political-ideological ally in India.
As reported earlier, Jammu and Kashmir now have 90 assembly constituencies. The BJP intends to contest the election separately in the polls, while the National Conference (NC) and the Congress have formed an alliance. As per the agreement reached between the parties, NC will compete for 51 seats, Congress will compete for 32 seats, and there will be “friendly contests” in five constituencies. In addition, the CPI(M) in South Kashmir and the Panthers Party in Jammu division have each been allotted one seat.
Notably, while the removal of Article 370 has ushered Jammu and Kashmir into an unprecedented era of development, skyrocketing tourism and increased security, the National Conference has mentioned in its manifesto that they would seek the restoration of Article 370. Moreover, while the BJP-led Central government has adopted a policy of no talks with Pakistan until it stops state-sponsored terrorism against India, NC has advocated for resuming dialogue with the hostile neighbour.
