Jammu, 18 February 2025 – The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) condemned the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two ‘Union Territories’ at its 13th State Conference in Jammu on February 17-18.
The party's leaders called the move unconstitutional and an assault on the democratic and federal fabric of India.
Addressing the open session, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Prakash Karat said the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5, 2019, was “a betrayal of the assurances given to the people of J&K in 1947.”
He described the decision as a direct attack on India’s federal structure and democracy.
“The Modi government’s unilateral move to dismantle an existing state and reduce it to two Union Territories was against the principles of federalism,” Karat added, stressing that CPI(M) had organized nationwide protests to oppose the decision.
He called for unity among secular and democratic forces to demand the restoration of J&K’s statehood.
Y Tarigami, senior CPI(M) leader and former J&K legislator, also condemned the abrogation, calling it an assault on the constitutional rights of J&K’s residents.
Tarigami noted that the protection of land and job rights for J&K’s people was guaranteed by Maharaja Hari Singh’s laws in 1927 and 1932, which later became Article 35-A of the Indian Constitution.
The BJP government's revocation of these protections, he said, was a "historic injustice."
“The people of J&K have been humiliated by the decision to downgrade a historic state into Union Territories,” he added.
CPI(M) leaders reaffirmed their commitment to fighting for the rights of J&K’s people, urging progressive forces across India to unite in demanding the restoration of Article 370 and full statehood for Jammu and Kashmir.