Modi says Article 370 repeal transformed Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh

Marking the seventh anniversary of the 5 August 2019 decision that stripped Jammu and Kashmir of special status and split the former state into two Union territories, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said "wide-ranging transformation" had reached the region since Articles 370 and 35(A) were repealed, Times of India reported. Modi pointed to growth in infrastructure and in education, healthcare, entrepreneurship and sports opportunities, and said the "full application of the Constitution of India" had empowered women and marginalised communities long denied their constitutional rights. He tied the anniversary to the 125th birth anniversary of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the BJP's ideological founder, who agitated against Article 370 and died in 1953 while jailed in Jammu and Kashmir for entering without the required permit, saying "what he envisioned decades ago found historic fulfilment on 5th Aug, 2019." Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, speaking separately, said the change had brought "a new era of peace, progress and equal opportunity" to the region.