Ambedkar was against special status to J&K, says Law Minister

TrOn the eve of Constitution Day, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Monday said BR Ambedkar, chairman of the drafting committee of the Constitution, was against granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir and had refused to pilot Article 370.

Speaking at the ‘Constitution of India for students’ programme in New Delhi today, Meghwal said, “BR Ambedkar was the first one to speak on all the Articles before the Constituent Assembly. Records show debates used to continue for almost half a day or more. BR Ambedkar used to respond to debates. Records show that while he responded to most debates, Ambedkar refused to pilot Article 370, saying it was detrimental to national unity and integrity.”

He cited records of the Constituent Assembly debates to claim that former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru insisted that Article 370 be adopted as part of the final Constitution (adopted on November 26, 1949) and another drafting committee member was given the task to get it passed.

“Ambedkar was not even present. He had gone to a hospital and it (Article 370) was passed hastily,” the Law Minister said.

He said Ambedkar was a patriot and now years later “another patriot Prime Minister Narendra Modi piloted the abrogation of Article 370.”

Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state, was abrogated in August 2019.