JAMMU, June 23: Ram Madhav is BJP national general secretary and in-charge of sensitive Jammu & Kashmir. He was also the one who, it is said, was architect of the "atrocious' PDP-BJP agenda of alliance, described by nationalist forces as an "agenda of subversion" and "one more rivet in the chain of slavery of Jammu and Ladakh". Besides, he is the BJP's point-man for Jammu & Kashmir.
Strange may it appear, but it is a fact that Ram Madhav knows nothing about Article 370 that grants separate status to Jammu & Kashmir on the score of religion. He also doesn't know how this Article could be repealed. Yesterday, he made himself an object of ridicule when he said that only Parliament could repeal Article 370.
"Our commitment to abrogation of Article 370 is a political position that will never change. But the point here is who has the authority to actually take that decision - it's the Parliament. Pending that, we can work together with other parties in a pragmatic manner," Madhav was quoted as saying.
All this shows how blissfully ignorant he is about Article 370. Article 370 can be revoked by the President of India within one minute. He simply has to invoke Article 370 to revoke Article 370. What he needs is only a resolution from the Union Cabinet to the effect that Article 370 has outlived its utility and, hence, it should be removed from the Constitution of India.
Under Article 370, the President of India exercises absolute, extraordinary and unbridled executive powers and using these powers vested in him by this Article, he can repeal it. Under this Article, he can also keep Jammu & Kashmir under his direct rule for any number of years without informing the Parliament.
Take, for example, the Governor/President's rule in Jammu & Kashmir between January 19, 1990 and October 9, 1996. In other words, the state remained under the Governor/President's rule for 6 years 9 months and 20 days. The Indian Constitution was not amended even once. Contrarily, during almost the same period, the Government of India amended the Indian Constitution at least four times to keep the restive Punjab under President's rule between 1887 and 1992. This is the constitutional position and it should clear all the cobwebs of confusion. |
