Karan Singh, former President (Sadr-i-Riyasat) and Governor of Jammu Kashmir expressed his views and takeaways from the recent amendments made with regards to Jammu & Kashmir by the Indian government.
Singh, who also the son of Maharaja Hari Singh – the last ruler of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, said, “I must admit that the unusually fast decisions in Parliament caught all of us completely by surprise.” The former Rajya Sabha MP said, “Personally I do not agree with a blanket condemnation of these developments.” He then added a few positive points in his statement. “Ladakh’s emergence as Union Territory,” “the gender discrimination in Article 35A needed to be addressed,” “a fresh delimitation … will ensure a fair division of political power between the Jammu and Kashmir regions”
With regards to Kashmir, Singh wrote, “I feel it is important for the political dialogue to continue, it is unfair to dismiss the two main regional parties as being anti-national.”
“At all costs communal harmony should be maintained and violence eschewed. The effort should be that Jammu and Kashmir attains full Statehood as soon as possible so that its people can at least enjoy the political rights available to the rest of the country. With my lifelong involvement with Jammu and Kashmir, a State founded by my ancestors and for which my father Maharaja Harisingh signed the Instrument of Accession in 1947, my sole concern is to further the welfare of all sections and regions of the State.”
