Celebrations were spontaneous in the Jammu region as the Supreme Court on Monday upheld abrogation of Article 370 by the BJP government, but Kashmir’s mainstream political leadership expressed “disappointment” on the verdict.
BJP, Shiv Sena, Dogra Front, Traders Association and many other organisations went into celebration mode soon after a five judge constitution bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud pronounced the verdict.
“Disappointed but not disheartened,” said National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah while reacting to the Supreme Court on Monday upholding abrogation of Article 370.
Omar wrote on X: “Disappointed but not disheartened. The struggle will continue. It took the BJP decades to reach here. We are also prepared for the long haul.”
Senior Congress leader and Maharaja Hari Singh’s son Dr Karan Singh said: “A section of people in J&K who will not be happy with this judgment, my sincere advice is that they should accept the inevitable and they should accept the fact that now this has been done and the Supreme Court has upheld the action and therefore there’s no point now unnecessarily hitting their head against the wall. Now my suggestion is that they should turn their energies towards fighting the next elections. That is where the people should now be motivated instead of developing any negativity…”
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said: “The people of J&K are not going to lose hope or give up. Our fight for honour and dignity will continue regardless. This isn’t the end of the road for us.”
Reacting to the verdict, Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chairman and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the verdict of the Supreme Court is “sad and unfortunate” but we have to accept it.
Peoples Conference leader Sajad Lone reacted on X: “The Supreme Court verdict on Article 370 is disappointing. Justice yet again eludes the people of J and K. Article 370 may have been legally obliterated but will always remain a part of our political aspirations. In the case of statehood the Supreme Court sidestepped even commenting on it, thus protecting the entire country from any future misuse, by citing precedence. Yet the same misuse was subtly endorsed in J & K. Let us hope at a future date Justice wakes up from its slumber of pretence.”
Vikramaditya Singh, grandson of the last ruler of J&K Maharaja Hari Singh, who signed the instrument of accession with India, reacted: “I wholeheartedly welcome the decision of the Hon Supreme Court upholding the constitutional validity of abrogation of article 370 in J&K. It reflects the culmination of the ongoing process of integration over 70 years. Soon we can expect Statehood of J&K to be restored and elections held.”
BJP chief Ravinder Raina and party spokesman Sunil Sethi described the verdict as “historical.”
Just before the SC pronounced the verdict, Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti claimed that they had been put under house arrest. They also posted on X pictures of the gates of their houses locked, which they said was done by police.
However, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha denied the allegations and said no one has been detained or arrested in J&K. He termed such claims as rumours.
Omar wrote on X: “Dear Mr LG these chains that have been put on my gate have not been put by me so why are you denying what your police force has done. It’s also possible you don’t even know what your police is doing? Which one is it? Are you being dishonest or is your police acting independent of you?”
The PDP wrote on X: “Even before the Supreme Court judgement is pronounced, Police has sealed the doors of the residence of PDP President @MehboobaMufti and put her under illegal house arrest.”