CPI(M) MLA from Jammu and Kashmir Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami said on Saturday that the people of the country should reject the politics of hate.

He was speaking on ‘Why is Kashmir Still Burning?’, organised by the Tamil Nadu Platform for Peoples’ Unity. N. Ram, Chairman of The Hindu Publishing Group, presided.

Mr. Tarigami described how successive Central governments paralysed Article 370 of the Constitution, leading to a mistrust among the people of the State.

“By now, 43 amendments have been virtually enforced, eroding the very basis of Article 370....Article 249 is not used in other parts of the country as it is used in Kashmir. Parliament can make laws now just by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha about matters in the State List... As of now, Kashmir has less autonomy than what other States enjoy,” he said.

Mr. Tarigami, who described Kashmir as an “unfortunate land that is burning and bleeding”, said during Partition, the State never saw communal incidents. The legislator charged the BJP with using Kashmir’s tragedy for polarising the rest of the country.

Speaking on the recent rape and murder of a minor girl in Kathua, he said, “More shocking (than the incident) was the silence of those in authority... Most shocking was that those leaders who were at the helm of affairs — Ministers in the government — they were trying to obstruct the investigation,” he said.

Mr. Ram identified the policies of the BJP as the primary reason for the strife. “The degree of alienation of the Kashmir people — Comrade Tarigami tells me one can even call it a revolt — the reason for this is the mess that the BJP’s Central government and the Sangh Parivar has made. The government that they have formed in an alliance with the PDP. That is the main cause of the revolt of the people of Kashmir today.”