Article 370 revoked: Arun Jaitley expects investments, jobs to flow in J&K

Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said any citizen of India can now settle and invest in Jammu and Kashmir, ushering in jobs and development. On Monday, Rajya Sabha approved the motion to carve Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories, effectively revoking Article 370 that granted special status to the state.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Jaitley said that lack of jobs and revenue in the state gave rise to frustration among the people of Kashmir. "Today, there are no industries, hardly any private sector hospital, no credible educational institution set up by the private sector. India's most beautiful State has not had investments from even the hotel chains. Consequently, there are no new jobs for the local people, no revenue for the State," Jaitley wrote.

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Jaitley praised PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for achieving what was believed to be impossible. "The popular belief that the promise BJP made on Article 370 is an unachievable slogan has been proved wrong. So strong is the public mood in support of the new Kashmir policy of the Government that several opposition parties had succumbed to the public opinion. For the Rajya Sabha to approve this decision by a two-third majority goes beyond anyone's imagination," Jaitley said.

Recounting the history of Article 370 and Article 35A, Jaitley said that Panditji (Jawaharlal Nehru) did not assess the Kashmir situation correctly. He added that the worst attempt to appease the separatists was the introduction of Article 35A in 1954. Later in his blog, the former Finance Minister praised PM Modi for following a different approach than earlier governments.

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"The historic blunders of special status under Article 370 and Article 35A had cost the country both politically and financially. Today, when history is being re-written, it has given a verdict that Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee's vision on Kashmir was the correct one and Panditji's dream solution has proved to be a failure," Jaitley said.

"The present decision makes it clear that just as the rule of law prevails in other parts of the country, it will equally prevail in the Kashmir valley. Security provided to separatists was withdrawn; the Income-tax Department and the NIA discovered the unlawful resources that these separatists and terrorists were getting. Between these two categories, only a few hundred people in the last ten months have suffered. But the remaining population of the Kashmir valley, after decades, has seen an era of peace," he added.

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Read the full blog post below: