Srinagar
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said on Saturday that he would fight for Article 35A until his death, warning that the fallout of any tinkering with the Constitutional provision would be difficult to control.

Article 35A, which gives special rights and privileges to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, is currently facing a legal challenge in the Supreme Court.

“I will fight against them till I go down in my grave,” said Farooq, maintaining that “they only remember Kashmir and not Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland”, which also enjoy the special position.

Asked how he sees the situation in Kashmir if Article 35A is tinkered with, he said, “You will see the situation yourselves. Delhi will also see it and it will be very difficult for them to control it,” he said.

Farooq, who is also the Member of Parliament from the Srinagar constituency, however, sought to dismiss the uproar around the legal challenge to Article 35A of the Constitution, saying no one is going to touch it.

“They cannot touch Article 35A. The Constitutional bench has talked about it twice already. I don’t know why they try to scratch this wound every time. The more they scratch it, the more blood there will be.