Former Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday said that although the Supreme Court of India’s verdict on the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was unfortunate but “everyone has to accept it with a heavy heart”.

Azad, who parted ways with his longtime political party Congress, and founded his own Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), said that nobody will be happy with this judgement in Jammu and Kashmir, newswire PTI reported. Azad said after a five-judge apex court bench ended a decades long debate by unanimously upholding the Centre's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 bestowing special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. It also directed restoration of statehood "at the earliest" as well as elections to the assembly by September 30 next year.