New Delhi: As India celebrates Eid-ul-Fitr today, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad offered Namaz at the Parliament Street Mosque in Delhi. He also spoke to the media outside the mosque and talked about elections in Kashmir.
Azad said that if elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir, then “all will be well”. His comment comes amid statements by BJP leaders including PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah who had earlier said that polls will be held in Jammu and Kashmir which became a union territory when Article 370 was scrapped in 2019, after the delimitation process was over.
Responding to a question over the Kashmir polls, the Congress veteran said, "...If elections happen (in Kashmir) and the power is given in the hands of the people, then I believe all will be well".
Answering a question about ‘Kashmiriyat’, a term often used to describe the culture of brotherhood in Jammu and Kashmir, he said: “Kashmiriyat is there like it was there before… There is no change. People still love each other.”
Azad also wished people on the occasion of Eid-al-Fitr and said, "It's a matter of joy to get some relief from COVID finally. People reached the road because of space constraints... may walls of hatred break for eternity."
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Jammu's Samba district for the first time after Article 370 was scrapped and said that J&K is on the path of development after the abrogation of Article 370.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019 notified by the government paved the way for the creation of two Union Territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. According to the Act, the number of seats in the legislative assembly of Jammu and Kashmir will be increased from 107 to 114, and delimitation of the constituencies will be determined by the Election Commission.