Centre trampled spirit of Constitution by abrogating Article 370: Manish Tewari

Congress MP and former Union minister Manish Tewari on Sunday blamed the Centre for setting a dangerous precedent by revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and dividing it into two Union Territories thereby "trampling the very spirit of our Constitution". The Congress leader was speaking on the third and concluding day of the Military Literature Festival here on the topic 'Article 370 and the Death-Knell of Terrorism'.

"We are a Union of states and what has been done by bifurcating Jammu and Kashmir is the most obnoxious move entailing serious repercussions for our Constitution and polity," he said here. Tewari said the abrogation of Article 370 was wrong as it subverted all norms of due processes enshrined in the Constitution as he went on to accuse the Centre of alienating mainstream Kashmiri leaders.

"You abrogated Article 370 but what happens to the Constitution of J&K? Kashmir has a Constitution which was brought into effect by a sovereign constituent body elected by the people of J&K. Have you been able to abrogate that Constitution, the answer is no. So, in the middle of all this, a constitution is still floating around," he said. "The Centre decided to abrogate Article 370 in absolute defiance of Article 3 of the Indian Constitution, which says state Assembly has to be consulted before reorganizing the state. On both process and substance, the abrogation of Article 370 is completely unconstitutional and all that you have succeeded in doing is demolishing what was called the mainstream in J&K," he added.

Referring to the detention of some political leaders in the valley after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, Tewari said that there is nobody left to talk to in the J&K if the need arises. "It (BJP) was in government with Mehbooba Mufti (PDP) and today she has become a threat to this country. Dr Farooq Abdullah has become a threat to this country. It's the calm before a storm.... Kashmir is a tinderbox, which spark lights it up, God alone knows," he said.

"If you have to talk to somebody in J&K, I am afraid the manner in which you have pulverized, dismembered and totally demolished the mainstream, there is nobody that the Indian Union can talk to in J&K today, that's the tragedy," Tewari said.

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