West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was silent on the removal of Article 370 on the day Union Home Minister Amit Shah had announced it, though her party MPs had opposed its implementation procedure and an official statement was issued on the party’s behalf.
A day later, on Tuesday, Banerjee said that she does not support the way it was implemented, and the method was undemocratic. She said this at the Kolkata airport before leaving for Chennai, where she is to meet DMK president MK Stalin.
Speaking about the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation bill, Banerjee said that she “cannot support or go against the bill”, and added that she did not agree with the method and procedure in which the action was taken by the NDA government.
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The Bengal CM also said that former chief ministers of Jammu & Kashmir, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti should be set free soon. “There is no information about Farooq Abdullah. Mehbooba and Omar Abdullah have also been arrested…they cannot be isolated, they are not terrorists,” she said, and said Mamata demanding their immediate release.
The Centre should have included the people in the decision instead of creating an atmosphere of fear, she added.
