Shah: No intention to remove Art 371
Home Minister Amit Shah in Arunachal Pradesh. (Photo: @AmitShah/Twitter)
Itanagar, February 20 (IANS): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday assured that the Central government has no intention to remove Article 371 which provides special powers to the northeast, and warned that those trying to spread rumours will not succeed in their attempts.
In a veiled attack on the opposition, the Home Minister said that various attempts were made to spread rumours across the northeast regarding the Centre's intention to abolish Article 371 of the Constitution when the government announced scrapping of Article 370 from Jammu & Kashmir on August 5 last year.
"On the occasion of Statehood Day of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram today, I want to tell the entire northeast that no one can remove Article 371. There is no intention of anyone to abolish the Article," Shah said while addressing a gathering at the 34th Statehood Day of Arunachal Pradesh here.
Shah later warned that those trying to spread rumours to split the country will never succeed in their attempts.
Most of the states that have been accorded special provisions under Article 371 are in the northeast and the special status aims to preserve their tribal culture. It also has special provisions for Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa.
NE to be problem-free before 2024 polls
Shah also promised to make all the northeastern states "problem free" before the 2024 general elections.
Shah said that there would be no existence of any dispute or contention in the region when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would approach people to vote for them in the Lok Sabha elections.
He said that the Central government is committed to solve all the problem in northeast like disputes among the states, boundary clash, issues related to tribes, terrorism and many more.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants the whole northeast problem free. We would come in front of you with a problem-free northeast while seeking blessings of citizens here after five years during general elections in 2024," Shah said.
