Narendra Modi's comments on Article 370 spark off a furious debate

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's remarks on Article 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir has sparked off an acrimonious political debate. While the BJP claimed that Modi's comments on Article 370 have been misinterpreted, Jammu and Kashmir parties and Congress lashed out at him.

Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said, "Modi has been misinterpreted and he has reiterated what late politician Shyama Prasad Mookerjee had said."

"Modi's remarks cannot be interpreted as the BJP softening its stand on the special status. The BJP has traditionally advocated the outright scrapping of Article 370. Pointing out that even former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had said that Article 370 would be removed over time, he said constitutional experts should debate its usefulness to Jammu and Kashmir," Sushma said while defending the party's prime ministerial candidate.

But the Congress was quick to criticise Modi's remarks on the usefulness of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said, "The BJP must clarify its stand on the matter."

"This is a part of an exercise that was made not just in Kashmir but many places across India to bring the people together to preserve the local interests and maintain the local flavour. Where is the debate? I cannot go and buy land in Uttrakhand, Modi is living in a different world, he is not aware of the present," External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said.

BJP's erstwhile allies the JDU and the Peoples Democratic Party too slammed Modi's statement that there should be a debate on whether Kashmiris have benefited from Article 370 and if it was needed any longer.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said, "Article 370 is not Babri Masjid that BJP leaders can bring down and our leaders will just stay silent and watch the madness. There is no need to rake up the issue. It is a permanent part of the accession of J&K and a permanent part of the Constitution, so no power can bring it down. If any power does try to bring it down, it will force us to reevaluate the terms of J&K accession."

The JDU called it a poll pitch by Modi ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Party leader Ali Anwar said, "Modi and the BJP have wrong intentions. They are raising this issue because the elections are approching. This is the reason we ended our alliance."

Meanwhile, Modi who had raised the controversial matter, tweeted that after his call for a debate on Article 370, it is being widely debated among people and across TV and social media.

"However, we need rational & focused debate not only on 370 but other issues relating to J&K, including suffering of sections of J&K society," he tweeted.

"Wounds of suffering caused to various communities in J&K are still fresh in our hearts. We need to talk about uniting instead of dividing. No one can ignore sufferings of the Kashmiri Pandits for so many years. We remain committed to working towards justice for the community. It is said about J&K- if there is heaven on earth, it is here. We all need to work to make J&K a heaven of peace, integration & diversity," he stressed in his tweet.

Modi went on to say that party leader Arun Jaitley has brought out the discriminatory attitude in J&K and this has no place in law.