New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday outlined his vision for a new, developed and prosperous Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh even as he hit out at "a handful" of people and separatists for attempting to play into Pakistan's hands to spoil the situation in the wake of the revocation of Article 370 granting special status to J&K.
Promising free, fair and transparent elections to the J&K Assembly, which has been made into a Union Territory, Modi said that Kashmir was the crown of India and the new moves on Kashmir signified the dawn of a new era in J&K.
The Prime Minister said that the move to revoke special status to J&K and bring development to the state was a very well thought out one.
He promised that with the creation of two Union Territories of J&k and Ladakh, all vacant posts in government jobs would be filled up, which would create employment opportunities for the youth in the region.
"We have taken a historic decision on Jammu and Kashmir," Modi said, adding that Article 370 and Article 35-A "did not give anything" to the state and its people except separatism, terrorism, family rule and large scale corruption.
He said they were being used as anti-India weapon by Pakistan to foment people's emotions due to which 42,000 innocent people lost their lives and J&K and Ladakh could not progress at the desired pace.
"Now with the obstacle being removed, the future of J&K and Ladakh will improve and become secure," the Prime Minister said.
He said that Article 370 had deprived the people of J&K of the benefits of well-argued and well thought out central legislations meant for the entire country. "No one can imagine that the Parliament brings out so many legislations, but they are just not applicable to one part of the country," he said.
Taking pot shots at the Congress over the RTI and RTE, he said that earlier a government would make legislations and "roll in self-praise" but could not ensure that these legislations would be applicable to the over 1.5 crore residents of J&K.
Talking about the Right to Education (RTE) Act, he asked why were the children of the state deprived of its benefits. The people were deprived of the benefits of the Safai Karmachari Act as well as the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The Minority Act was also not applicable as well as the Minimum Wages Act, he said.
Modi said that Article 370 also prevented the SC and ST communities from reaping the benefits of reservation in jobs and education.
"With Article 370 becoming history, I have full confidence that J&K will come out of its negative effects too," he said.
The Prime Minister said that over the decades, no one could justify how Article 370 and Article 35-A benefited the people of the state.
Modi also said that state government employees, including the police, would soon get benefits on par with employees of other Union Territories such as LTA and house rent allowance, among others.
The Prime Minister said that while he respected the opinions of those who objected to the Kashmir move, he requested that they should keep the national interest supreme.
Modi also said that the dreams of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, B.R. Ambedkar, Syama Prasad Mookerjee and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajapyee have been fulfilled with the abrogation of Article 370.
He said that some things in society life get so mixed up with time that many a times they are considered permanent.
"There was a similar sentiment with Article 370. There was no discussion about the loss of our people in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Surprisingly, if we talked to anyone, no one could even tell what was the benefit of Article 370 in the lives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir," Modi said.