The Centre on August 5 abrogated Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir amid opposition’s objection, especially the Congress.
Though the principal opposition party, Congress, is opposing Centre’s move to abrogate the controversial Article, reports suggest that its MPs back in 1964 demanded to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
On September 11, 1964, the MPs of the Lok Sabha had demanded Kashmir’s full integration with India and a firm declaration by the government about the irrevocability of the State’s accession during a discussion on a private member’s Bill seeking to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution.
A paper cutting from September 11, 1964, headlined “Special status of Kashmir must end, insists MPs” states that several Congress lawmakers supported Prakash Vir Shahtri’s private member bill to end the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
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The report said that a Congress lawmaker K Hanumanthiya appealed to the then Home Minister to accept the bill ‘in spirit of democracy’.
Both the upper house and the lower house of the Parliament approved the resolution abrogating Article 370 for J&K and a bill to bifurcate the state into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.