Shillong, Aug 5: The Thma U Rangli (TUR) has condemned the BJP-led NDA government for withdrawing special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir while observing that the abrogation of Article 370 points to the reality that a similar threat to the 5th and 6th Schedule provisions exists.

In a statement issued here on Monday, TUR leader, Angela Rangad termed the move an attempt to create an imperial occupation and urged regional communities and groups to be vigilant to this impending threat.

While appealing to all indigenous groups to oppose this move, Rangad said “TUR appeals to all indigenous people’s groups to stay united, oppose this move of the government and stop any other plans to expand the sinister designs of the Hindutva Indian state. TUR calls upon all democratic minded citizens to oppose this attack on our democratic republic.”

She said that TUR stood in solidarity with the oppressed people of Kashmir whose long pending desire for freedom and autonomy has yet again been brutally betrayed.

She said the Presidential order invoking Article 370 in order to forcefully extend the whole or all provisions of the Indian Constitution to the state of Jammu and Kashmir and voiding Article 35 A which provided exemptions that gave Jammu and Kashmir special rights (right to decide permanent residents and their right to ownership of immovable assets, special rights in government jobs, scholarships etc), and breaking up of Jammu & Kashmir, relegating it to the status of a union territory, marks a dark trajectory of ‘Hindutva authoritarianism.’

According to her, this is a continuation of the dismantling of the Constitution and trampling of the democratic framework of India.

“This constitutional coup engineered by Modi (Prime Minister)and Shah (Home Minister)and executed in the dark by incarcerating the Kashimiri people including their elected representatives and misleading the rest of the country has ramifications not just for Jammu & Kashmir but for the Union of India as a whole, and the North Eastern states in particular,” Rangad said.

She said the Indian union came into being by various agreements with different communities through special provisions and arrangements, including the 5th and 6th schedules, which enable state legislations such as the Land Transfer Act preventing land alienation, local traditional self governance systems etc, that protect the indigenous people from potential disruptive occupation by a brute majority.

“Abrogation of Article 370 points to the reality that a similar threat to the 5th and 6th schedule provisions exists, the sampler of which, was as the pushing of the Citizenship Amendment Bill despite regional opposition to it,” she added.