Article 370 was elephant in the room, hurt development: Govt

New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS) The government said on Monday that removing Article 370 was necessary as it had led to terrorism and came in the way of hampering corruption in Jammu and Kashmir.The government slammed the Kashmiri political parties represented by former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti for constantly speaking against abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution.In a detailed booklet explaining the rationale behind the revocation of Article 370 and provision of 35A, the government said that anti-corruption provisions like Right to Information and Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) were not application in Jammu and Kashmir because of this article. The Article was the elephant in the room, the government said.The government said the state will prosper after axing Article 370, social amalgamation will reduce threat to militancy, Kashmir will become one of the top tourist destinations and it will also prove to be good diplomacy to deal with Pakistan over territorial disputes.
--IANS gd/mr/soni