Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is on his maiden visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday said that the special status of the erstwhile state under Article 370 was a temporary arrangement ‘but still lasted for 70 years.
“The dream of Dr. Shama Prassad Mukherji - aik mulq mei dou nishan, dou pradhan nahi chaleingay (in one country two flags and two prime ministers will not work), stands fulfilled. With J&K’s complete integration, there is Ek Vidhan, Ek Pradhan and Ek Nishan (one constitution, one flag and one Prime Minister) from Kashmir to Kanyakumari,” he said while addressing the Jammu University Convocation.
Dhankhar said that post abrogation of Article 370 J&K has witnessed remarkable growth. “J&K’s integration with the Union has paved the way for investment, tourism boom and development. Jammu will be an education hub. J&K today has all the top institutions of the country be that IIM, IIT and even AIIMS,” he said.
The Vice President said that the architect of the Indian constitution Dr B R Ambedkar declined to draft Article 370 as he had a great vision. “200 State laws have been repealed and 100 laws modified post 370 abrogations,” he said.
Without naming any country or any person, he said that false narratives are set afloat in an “orchestrated manner, by forces inimical to India. “Some of us don’t take it seriously. If the majority decides to stay silent, that means silence forever. These nefarious designs will never be allowed to succeed in our land,” Dhankhar said.
On the recent G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Srinagar, he said, “We never stop dreaming as all our dreams will get fulfilled.”