By Parth Gupta
The Concerned Citizens Group (CCG), a Delhi based civil society group led by former Finance Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha completed its 3rd phase report on August 19th after a visit to Kashmir valley. The members including Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) Kapil Kak, social activist Sushobha Barve and senior journalist Bharat Bhushan visited different parts of the state where they met political leaders, students, lawyers and others, and have concluded in their report the local citizens who used to be reasonable have also begun to use the language of the militants and separatists.
Historical overview
Article 35A, which was added to the Constitution by a Presidential Order in 1954, is a provision giving the state of Jammu and Kashmir a right to decide who all are permanent residents of the State and confer them exclusive rights in regards to acquisition of property, privileges in public sector jobs, and other public aid and welfare. It is believed that the parliamentary route of law-making was bypassed when the President incorporated Article 35A into the Constitution since it was never tabled before the Parliament for discussion. Petitions filed over the course of years questioning in the validity of Article 35A mention that it is a violation of fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
Why is it in the spotlight now
The reason this discussion is up again is the petition filed by a Kashmiri woman, Charu Wali Khan, challenging the legality of Article 35A wherein the apex court dispatched notices to the Centre and the state governments last month in the same regard. In response to this notice, Advocate General K Venugopal told the bench that Article 35A raises several sensitive questions, and hence the point about its legality demands a larger debate. The fact that the BJP government believes in the potential of having a larger debate has brought the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition together.
Political opinion voiced
CM Mehbooba Mufti has categorically stated that no one will be left in the state to hold that national flag if Article 35A is tinkered with. Former CM Omar Abdullah saying that questioning the validity of Article 35A would be as good as challenging the accession of J&K. For a long time now, the BJP and its affiliates have been demanding complete integration of the state with the Indian Union. But their failure to get a complete and clear majority in the 2014 J&K elections and the ambition of forming a government in the valley resulted in the PDP-BJP alliance. Both these parties oppose each other on the issue of Article 370 and Article 35A. As the alliance was being talked about, the parties agreed to a document called Agenda of Alliance which agreed to protect the special status of the state.
Fear of wreaking havoc
This comes amid the fear that the Central governments attempt to revoke Article 35A might be successful. “People believe that revoking Article 35A can potentially lead to a demographic change in the state as outsiders are facilitated to buy land and property in the state“, the report states. The CCG has also warned of a general belief among Kashmiris that striking Article 35A off would lead to a widespread trouble in the state, and for the PDP-BJP coalition. In a scenario where Article 35A or Article 370 is revoked or altered, a turmoil in the state will be inescapable. Some separatist will always exist in the valley, considering the borders remain largely penetrable.
However, if the state is politically re-aligned, the anger and resistance will increase exponentially, which will lead to cycles of unrest. Larger the unrest, easier it will be for the terrorist groups to operate. Kashmir isnt just a State vs. Centre issue as international organisations keep a close watch and observe everything that happens in the valley related to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, and a further deterioration in terms of clashes between the police/army and the locals can damage Indias reputation.
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