Time to review Article 370: RSS leader

Jaipur: RSS leader Indresh Kumar has pitched for a wide debate on Article 370, that grants special status for Jammu and Kashmir, to determine its usefulness in the interest of the nation.

Kumar, the founder of "Muslim Rastriya Manch", said Kashmir is an integral part of India and the Article was a "temporary" arrangement initially but it is still continuing hence it needed a proper review. "It should be reviewed whether the Article 370 proved to be beneficial and in the interests of the nation or not. It must be discussed widely in order to make people of the country understand what its advantages or disadvantages have been," he told PTI over phone here. "If the law was a temporary provision, then why it still exists and if it was really necessary then why it is still temporary... Why Congress governments in the past did not make it permanent? And why they are afraid of a debate? "The time has come for its review to ascertain what was the gain and what was the loss the country had because of the Article 370," he said. He said Congress wants to avoid debate on the issue because "it has nothing to tell people about its advantages."