Article 370, Kartarpur Corridor: Javadekar highlights characteristics of a 'determined' govt

NEW DELHI: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday said that measures such as the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and the opening up of Kartarpur Corridor were characteristics of a determined government.

"A few days back, Supreme Court had announced the verdict on Ram Temple... Throughout the country, everybody accepted it. I want to congratulate the people for welcoming this judgement," Javadekar said at an event here.

"Abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, the Ayodhya verdict by Supreme Court and opening of Kartarpur Corridor are characteristics of a determined government... Earlier there were bomb blasts in different cities. Today, it is not happening because internal security has got strong. Also, there has been a decline in the activities of Naxalites," he added.

Talking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for 'New India', Javadekar said, "What is new India? Corruption-free India, casteism-free India, communalism-free India. That is new India."

On November 9, the top court had directed the Central government to hand over the disputed site at Ayodhya for the construction of a temple and set up a trust for this. The apex court had further directed the government to give a suitable plot of land measuring five acres to the Sunni Waqf Board.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had on Saturday inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor at Gurdaspur and Kartarpur respectively, facilitating the visa-free travel of Indian pilgrims to Kartarpur Sahib.

The corridor, which connects Dera Baba Nanak in India's Punjab with Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province, was formally opened to pilgrims on Saturday, three days before the 550th anniversary of the founder of Sikhism -- Guru Nanak Dev -- on November 12. India and Pakistan had on October 24 signed an agreement on the modalities for operationalising the corridor.

Meanwhile, on August 5, the central government had repealed Article 370 and Article 35A that granted special powers to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the former state into two Union Territories (UTs) -- Jammu and Kashmir with legislature and Ladakh without one.