The armed forces veterans have welcomed the decision of Narendra Modi government to scrap the Article 370 of constitution which provided special powers to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The state president of Uttarakhand Ex Services League (UESL), Brigadier (Retd), R S Rawat said that the decision of the union government is historic. He opined that a new atmosphere of peace and prosperity would usher in the state of Jammu and Kashmir now.
The Personnel below Officer Rank (PBOR) also expressed happiness on the development and appreciated the union government for taking the bold decision. The President of the association, Shamsher Singh Bisht said that the article 370 and 35 A of constitution were being used by the terrorists. He said that under these articles, the national flag was dishonoured and the armed forces personnel were being insulted. Bisht added that repeal of the article 370 would help in reining in the anti national activities in Kashmir and the article 35 would become redundant. He said that now industrial units, factories and educational institutions would be opened in Kashmir which would help in making the people of Kashmir educated and opening new avenues of employment.
It is worth mentioning here that Uttarakhand has a rich tradition of sending its youth to serve in the armed forces of the country. A rough estimate put the number of armed forces veterans and Veer Naris (widows of armed forces personnel) at 1.65 lakhs and the state is home to about thirty thousand retired paramilitary forces personnel. Similarly an estimated 1.50 lakh personnel belonging to the state are serving in different wings of armed forces of the country. The association with Jammu and Kashmir with the these serving and retired armed forces personnel is deep rooted as most of them have served there with thousands sacrificing their life and Jammu and Kashmir.