Article 370 Won’t be Restored: Ravi Shankar Prasad

The BJP on Saturday accused PDP president Mehbooba Mufti of "disrespecting" the Indian flag and asserted that the revocation of Article 370 was done constitutionally and that it will not be restored. Her comments that she will not hold the tricolour till the Kashmiri flag is restored is "downright denunciation" of the national flag's sanctity, said senior BJP leader and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister had on Friday said that she was not interested in contesting elections or holding the tricolour, the national flag, till the constitutional changes enforced on August 5 last year were rolled back.

She said she would hold the tricolour only when the separate flag of the erstwhile state is restored.

Prasad asserted that Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state a special status and was revoked last year, will not be restored.

It was removed following a proper constitutional process and both Houses of Parliament approved it with overwhelming numbers, he said.

Revoking it was our commitment to the nation and people have appreciated it, he said.

He further stated that, Mufti has shown serious disrespect to the very image of India which the tricolour represents in many ways.

The minister also hit out at other opposition parties, saying they have maintained a stony silence at her remarks showing serious disrespect to the national flag, even as they criticise the saffron party at the "slightest of issues".

"This is hypocrisy and double standard," Prasad said.