Ambedkar had refused to draft Article 370: VP

Jammu: Asserting that people are happy since the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution were abrogated in Jammu and Kashmir, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said the article was temporary but still lasted for 70 long years. He also said B R Ambedkar had refused to draft Article 370 while drafting the other articles of the Constitution.

“I had been advocating for it for 20 years. It was an aberration. Go to the text of the Constitution and see that this article was put as a temporary article. It lasted for the last 70 years,” Dhankhar said while addressing a convocation of the University of Jammu here. He said Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution, declined to draft Article 370. “Now, we are happy that it is not there (in Jammu and Kashmir),” he said.

Remembering the words of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee – “ek mulk mein do nishan, do pradhan nahi chalenge” (a country cannot have two symbols and two leaders), Dhankhar said that is no longer the case now. He said there is a harmonious atmosphere in Jammu and Kashmir now.