PATNA: Chief minister (CM) Nitish Kumar on Thursday said his party would oppose any move to scrap Article 370 , a special provision granting autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF jawans sacrificed their lives.“Article 370 should not be abrogated. We can never think of it. There is provision for Article 370 in the Constitution. It is important to keep Article 370 in J&K to stop terror activities. The stand of our party has been clear on this issue,” Nitish, who is also the national president of JD(U), told media persons on the sidelines of a party event here.“There has been a terror attack and talks on abrogation of Article 370 should not be encouraged at this time,” he said. Nitish, however, supported the Centre’s decision to withdraw security of J&K separatist leaders. “The entire country wants terror activities to end and the Centre is free to take measures to ensure this,” he added.Nitish also came out in support of innocent Kashmiri people. “If any incident happens in Kashmir, it does not mean that people of Kashmir are bad. All Kashmiris are Indians. Things coming out in public domain about the place of origin of terror activities definitely create negative connotations in the minds of people. However, it is fact that all communities, including Muslims, are hurt with this incident,” he added.Nitish’s statements came barely a few hours after BJP’s firebrand leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh’s remark at Jehanabad that Article 370 should be scrapped.Giriraj, the Lok Sabha MP from Nawada, also blamed country’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru for the current situation in J&K. “India is paying the price for Congress’s decision to withdraw troops from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” he said.

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