Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Amit Shah, greet each other before releasing their party’s election manifesto for the April/May general election in New Delhi, India, April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
April 8, 2019
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party will scrap a decades-old law providing special rights to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir state, according to the party’s election manifesto released on Monday.
“We believe that Article 35A is an obstacle in the development of the state,” the party’s manifesto said of the law that prevents non-residents from buying property in the state.
Political leaders in Muslim-majority Kashmir, where India is fighting an armed insurgency against its rule, have warned repealing the law would lead to widespread unrest.
Elections begin on Thursday.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
