We've Tried to Strike at Root Cause of Terrorism in Kashmir by Scrapping Article 370, Says Amit Shah

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said Article 370 of the Constitution was the root cause of terrorism in Kashmir and nullifying its provisions has effectively struck at the root of all terror operations in the Valley.

"Pakistan influenced the local youth because of the presence of Article 370. First, they incited the youth with ideas of secession, moving from demand of a separate state to ‘azaadi’. When that did not work out, they turned towards terrorism and handed them guns," Shah said.

In an exclusive interview with News18 Network’s Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi on Wednesday, Shah said that since the 1990s, 40,000 people have been killed in the Valley and all this violence unfolded in Kashmir because Article 370 enabled it.

"If someone does a detailed study of this, you can easily understand that Article 370 is responsible. We have tried to stop the root cause of terrorism by abrogating the article and in this direction, hopefully we will move with success,” the BJP national president said.

Shah said the three biggest concerns in the Valley were separatism and terrorism, rampant corruption and the absence of a blueprint for the state’s future. “I think the root cause of all the three issues was Article 370 and nullifying it will now take the Valley towards the path of peace and prosperity,” he added.

The union home minister also said that "Article 370 has made a huge impact" in the election-bound state of Haryana that sends one the highest number of individuals to the armed forces." The contribution of Haryana, a relatively small state, to the armed forces is reported to be around 9 per cent.

Both Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have spoken extensively about the scrapping of Kashmir's special status in their election rallies in Maharashtra and Haryana where voters will exercise their franchise on October 24.