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| Article 370 is temporary, says GoI | | Integration of J&K into India | | Neha
JAMMU, Oct 26: Article 370 is a temporary and transitional provision and does not deal with benefits to the state as well as its people. Article 370 has been, and is being, used for applying provisions of the Constitution of India to Jammu and Kashmir with the concurrence of the state government. The relevant provision has been elaborated in the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order 1954 as amended from time to time. Article 370 of the Constitution does not deal with benefits to the state and the people. Who said so, when and where? The Government of India said only recently in the Rajya Sabha.
Where was the need for the Union Government to say so? It had to say so because one of the BJP MPs in the Rajya Sabha Avinash Rai Khanna, who also happens to be the in-charge of Jammu & Kashmir BJP, had put a question to the Union Government to know what was the actual status of Article 370 and how had it benefited the people of the state and the country.
Three things are clear from the written reply to the question put by the BJP lawmaker. One, Article 370 is not a permanent feature of the Indian Constitution. Article 306-A (Article 370) was adopted on October 17, 1949 by the Constituent Assembly of India at the behest of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who wanted to pander to the communalists in Kashmir and keep the anti-Jammu and pro-autonomy Sheikh Abdullah in a good humour. There was practically no discussion in the constituent assembly. Those like Maulana Hasrat Mohani opposed Article 306 -A on the ground that the grant of special status to the state on the score of religion would enable it to "assume independence afterwards" were overruled. Two, Article 370 had nothing to do with the needs and aspirations of the people of the state. Article 370 nowhere says that its application would benefit the people of the state this way or that way. Three, Article 370 only deals with the methodology under which the central laws could be applied to the state.
Notwithstanding the fact that Article 370 was temporary and transitional provision and notwithstanding the fact that it had nothing to do with the needs and aspirations of the people of the state, the Kashmiri leadership has been exploiting this atrocious provision to the hilt since then to not only harm the legitimate socio-economic and politico-constitutional rights and interests of the people and enjoy extraordinary legislative, executive and financial powers but also to hold the state aloof from the rest of the country and allow fissiparous tendencies to grow and impact the state's polity, society and economy.
Article 370 has not only harmed the people of Jammu province and Ladakh regions, including the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and refugees of all varieties, including refugees from West Pakistan, and hampered the economic growth but also the people of Kashmir. It has benefited only the Valley's ruling elite and its handful of Jammu-based agents and the Kashmiri separatists of all hues and the hostile nations like Pakistan and China. If the people of the state really wish to exercise all the rights available under the Indian Constitution, they have to ensure the collapse of Article 370. They have to reject those who want to retain Article 370 and strength the hands of those who want this Article to go lock, stock and barrel. |
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