Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has made it clear that Article 370, giving special powers to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir will not be restored. Article 370 was revoked on 5 August last year and the state of Jammu and Kashmir bifurcated into two Union Territories by the Indian government.
Reacting to former BJP ally Mehbooba Mufti’s comments that she and her party colleagues will not hoist the Indian flag until Article 370 was restored, Prasad said that her comments smacked of ‘downright denunciation’ of the national flag’s sanctity, reported news agency PTI.
Prasad, according to PTI, said that Article 370 was removed following a proper constitutional process and both Houses of Parliament approved it with overwhelming numbers.
Earlier, the BJP had demanded an arrest of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for her statement on India’s national flag. In her first interaction with the media since being released from year-long detention, Mufti had said that members of her party would not fly the tricolour until they are allowed to hoist the flag of Jammu and Kashmir.
LIVE UPDATES on today’s big stories will appear below:
19:48 PM: I have tested COVID-19 positive. Asymptomatic.Feeling very much alright.Have alerted those who came in contact in recent days.Will continue to work from isolation. Work in RBI will go on normally. I am in touch with all Dy. Govs and other officers through VC and telephone: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das
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Assault on Mumbai police traffic police constable discharging his duty. Kalbadevi, Mumbai. pic.twitter.com/USe96NvG9Q
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