Srinagar: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35A, which provides special rights and privileges to natives of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, from February 26 to February 28. Ahead of the SC hearing on Article 35A, National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Monday said any fiddling with Jammu and Kashmir’s special status would have serious and far-reaching consequences in the state.
Addressing party functionaries, workers and delegates at the NC headquarters here, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister warned that the situation in the state would become much worse than the one in Arunachal Pradesh if the rights under Article 35A and Article 370 of the Constitution were fiddled with.
“They threaten us every day with (Article) 35A. I want to tell the Centre that see the situation in Arunachal Pradesh, where there is no militancy, no stone-pelting. A peaceful state like Arunachal Pradesh is also up in flames. The people there have hit the roads in order to save their permanent resident status.
“That I believe should act as an eye-opener for those who are inimical to Article 370, Article 35A. Any misadventure in fiddling with the state’s special status will unarguably have serious and far-reaching consequences in Jammu and Kashmir. The situation will be worse than what it is in Arunachal Pradesh,” Abdullah said. He added that it was his duty to warn New Delhi about the consequences of any tampering with the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.