New Delhi: Amid a raging debate over Jammu and Kashmir in the Rajya Sabha, former Union minister and Congress leader Kapil Sibal said on Monday that India’s first deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel was willing to let Kashmir be a part of Pakistan.
“Sardar Patel introduced Article 370 and when discussions were happening, he was willing to let Kashmir go to Pakistan,” he said in the Upper House of Parliament.
He said Patel was clear that Junagarh must come to India. “Junagarh king was a Muslim and wanted to go to Pakistan, but Kashmir ruler was Hindu and he wanted to come to India and because of Jawahar Lal Nehru, Kashmir became a part of India,” he added.
Earlier in the day, in an announcement with massive repercussions for Jammu and Kashmir, Home Minister Amit Shah announced in the Rajya Sabha that the government had decided to repeal Article 370 of the Constitution which grants special status to the state.
The government also decided to bifurcate the state into two Union territories — Jammu and Kashmir, which will have a legislature, and Ladakh, which will be without a legislature.
Meanwhile, Mayawati-led Bajuhan Samaj Party (BSP) along with YSR Congress Party expressed support to the government’s move.
Leader of Opposition in the House Ghulam Nabi Azad, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha, said, “Many have sacrificed their lives for Kashmir... Many parties have lost their leaders in Kashmir. Civilians have also lost their lives to keep Kashmir with India... people of India have stood by Kashmir. What has happened today is not normal. We stand by the Constitution of India... We are willing to give up our lives for the Constitution... But we condemn any act against the Constitution... Today, (the) BJP has murdered the Constitution.”
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