On 5th August 2019, when the clock had struck at 11 in the morning, the Honorable Home Minister of India, Shri Amit Shah had prop0sed the removal of Article 370 and Article 35A, which was made the part of Article 360 in the year of 1954, at the Upper House. What is Article 370 and 35A? Article 370 gives the Valley a few special provisions. Now let’s us see some points of the special provision.
- Jammu-Kashmir’s citizens have dual citizenship.
- Jammu-Kashmir’s national flag is different.
- Jammu-Kashmir’s legislative assembly’s term is 6 years, whereas it is 5 years for the rest of the country,
- In Jammu-Kashmir it is not a crime to insult India’s national flag or the national symbol.
- The order of Supreme Court is not valid in Jammu and Kashmir.
- The Parliament of India may make laws only in matters of defence, communication and external affairs of the Valley.
- If a Kashmiri woman marries a person of any other state of India, Kashmiri citizenship of that female ends. In contrast to this, if she marries any person from Pakistan, not only her citizenship stands valid, but also that person from Pakistan would get Indian citizenship.
- RTI doesn’t apply, RTE is not implemented and CAG does not apply.
- There are no rights to Panchayats in Kashmir.
- Minorities (Hindus and Sikhs) don’t get 16% reservation.
- Indians in other states cannot buy or own land in Kashmir.
Why it came into effect? On August 15 1947, when both the nations were granted independence (14 August 1947 for Pakistan) the then princely state, Jammu and Kashmir decided to remain as an independent entity and not merge with any of the two nations. On 20th October 1947, Azad Kashmiri Forces, supported by the Pakistani army attacked the state and marched towards Srinagar with more local support, as the Valley at that time 3/4th of its population as Muslims. Maharaja Hari Singh, the then rule of J&K, asked India for help and India agreed to dispatch its troops with the condition that the Maharaja agrees to accede with India and thus he had signed Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947. Sheikh Abdullah was appointed as the head of the emergency administration. The troops of Azad Kashmir Force were repelled to the Line Of Control. In 1948 the first Indo-Pak war took place. A ceasefire was proclaimed on January 1 1949, and India took the issue to the UN. The UN on January 5 1949, stated that the accession of the Valley to any of the two countries is to be decided through a fair plebiscite, but it was never held. On October 17 1949, Indian Constitution adopted Article 370 which gave J&K special status and provision. Dr Ambedkar had refused and said that he couldn’t move the article as he wasn’t a traitor. So Pt. Nehru along with Gopalaswamy Ayyangar included the article in the Constitution as a temporary provision. What were the series of steps taken by the now government before the abolition? The past few days saw a series of actions that the government took. It created a lot of assumptions. From calling off the Amarnath Yatra for the first time in years to house arresting the mainstream leaders of the Valley, the then state and now UT along with the other states and UT had seen a lot of thrilling moments. Students of NIT Srinagar were asked to go home, internet services were cut off and the number of army personnel had increased. On August 4, NSA chief Ajit Doval, PM Narendra Modi and HM Amit Shah had a meeting and reportedly Ajit Doval was seen smiling after the meeting. On August 5, the cabinet had a meeting at 9:30 am and at 11:30 the proposals were presented which created a lot of commotion amidst mass support in the Parliament, so much that, it is said that two MPs are suspended because they had tear the Indian Constituition in anger. Was the abolition necessary? The special provision came into being with a promise that it would be fruitful for the people in the valley. But not much progress was seen in the Valley. The article was untouched for 72 years because maybe Delhi feared that Kashmir would be blood shed. I believe Kashmir had always been a target of the terrorists as they believe capturing or freeing Kashmir from India would open gates for them to penetrate deeper into India. Kashmir gets 10% of India’s fund with just 1% of the population, whereas a state like UP which accounts for 13% of the population gets just around 8.2% of the funds as mentioned here.. Now as stated earlier, Kashmir would be blood shed as genocide would take place is the article was revoked. Well, everyone remembers and knows the incident of 1990. India had already seen some darkest times. I believe it won’t see one further ever. Abolition of the article brought the people of Kashmir at the same level as the rest of India. Right to Education is implemented, people of other states can now buy plot in the UT which will help in the integration and will make things easier, business will be expanded. People’s reaction. From the non supporters of the government to the residents of the Valley, everyone is welcoming the decision. Here are some tweets.
The vision of Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee who had formed the core idea of Ek Desh Ek Vidhan Ek Pradhan Ek Nishan is the basis on which the present ruling party works. So on this day when history is been corrected, let’s not forget the man who had laid the foundation long ago. The mission had started of unifying India back in 1947 by Late Shri Sardar Vallabhai Patel. The mssion is accomplished today by Shri Narendra Modi and Shri Amit Shah. In politics, it’s not easy to make your critics support you, but the new MSD ( Modi Shah Doval) did it.