New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has justified the move taken by his government to abrogate Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. In an interview with Khaleej Times, Prime Minister Modi said that the government took the decision in a “completely democratic, open, transparent and Constitutional manner”.Terming the move by the central government as “internal steps”, Prime Minister Modi said that the development was “designed to end the isolation” of Jammu and Kashmir. The Prime Minister further said that it was the special status of the region that kept Jammu and Kashmir underdeveloped.Responding to the question on abrogation of Article 370, the Prime Minister said that it served “the vested interests of a few”. He said that it was because of the “isolation” of the region that youth were misguided and even radicalised by anti-India elements.“This isolation also allowed some of the youth to be misguided, get radicalised and take to violence and terrorism,” said Prime Minister Modi.Modi said that India could not afford to let the isolation gain further “foothold in our harmonious society and distract us from the primary tasks of growth and development of the entire country”.The Prime Minister arrived in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) late on Friday on a two-day visit. During the visit, the Prime Minister is slated to receive the highest civil decoration of the UAE, Order of Zayed, which was conferred on him earlier in April 2019.The move by Prime Minister Modi-led central government to abrogate Article 370 amid unprecedented security cover in Jammu and Kashmir has triggered attacks by opposition members. Following days of allegations and counter-allegations, opposition leaders, including former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, are visiting Srinagar on Saturday.Opposition leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sitaram Yechuri, D Raja, Manoj Jha, Anand Sharma, D Kupendra Reddy, Majeed Memon, KC Venugopal, Tiruchi Siva, Sharad Yadav, and Dinesh Trivedi will be part of the delegation.
