india

Updated: Aug 09, 2019 01:41 IST

Congress leader and grandson of Maharaja Hari Singh, Vikramaditya Singh, on Thursday described scrapping of Article 370 to be the beginning of a new era consisting of equality, development and progress for the people in union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

In a statement issued here, the former PDP MLC and now a Congress leader said, “This is the beginning of a new era for all of us in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The full integration of Jammu and Kashmir state into the Union of India and its reorganisation is indeed a step that I fully support.”

“Now, women and minority communities in Jammu and Kashmir will enjoy equal rights under the Constitution of India,” he added and hoped that the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir “must” now co-exist as equal partners and use this change as an opportunity to create a better future for the coming generations.

The grandson of Maharaja Hari Singh, who signed the instrument of accession in 1947 with the Union of India, hoped “to look forward to a new Jammu and Kashmir with a progressive and peaceful environment, with greater business and industrial development, private sector investment and greater employment opportunities for the youth.”

He said he hopes to see a full statehood for Jammu and Kashmir.

Union home minister Amit Shah on the floor of the Lok Sabha had assured to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir once normalcy gets back and militancy is wiped out.

Vikarmaditya said that he also endorsed views of his father Karan Singh, who issued a statement earlier in the day.