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| Omar finally admits Article 370 was discriminatory | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, July 29: After generating a debate on restoration of statehood and maintaining a stoic silence on 370 and 35-A abrogation, NC Vice President has once again stirring hornet’s nest, declaring that Article 370 was a discriminatory law, and particularly 35A discriminated against refugees and neglected Ladakhis of equal opportunities.
This is for the first time that the national conference Vice President and former Chief Minister of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir who so far used to call 370 as an only bridge between the union and the state, is now finding loopholes in the special status.
In an interview with a Chennai based newspaper, Omar when asked whether Article 370 was a discriminatory law, and particularly 35A discriminated against refugees and neglected Ladakhis of equal opportunities, he replied shockingly in affirmative.
“Yes, I accept there was an element of gender bias in 35A, which could have done with correction.
I have within the party discussed there might be a need to widen the scope and involve the civil society to acknowledge the gender bias in 35A and correct it ourselves.
In fact, I often cited the example of the triple talaq ruling.
If the Muslim intelligentsia had themselves acknowledged the problem of triple talaq and done away with it without the courts needing to have stepped in, it would have been better.
With regard to refugees, those refugees were not State subjects of J&K.
A State has the right to choose who its domiciles should be.
Other States do the same. Himachal Pradesh, Union Territories (UTs) like Andaman, Lakshadweep and the Northeast have their own domicile laws and J&K chose its own domicile law. If there was any element of discriminatory nature in the domicile law, the BJP was part of power with (Peoples Democratic party president) Mehbooba Mufti and Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, why did they not do it while in the government? Why did they have to completely dismember J&K? Why did you have to completely alter the constitutional relationship between J&K and the rest of the country to correct these things?,” Omar was quoted by the newspaper as having said.
Last year, on August 3- just three days ahead of Article 370 and 35A were abrogated, Omar’s father Dr Farooq had stated that the national conference was ready to amend Article 35-A and will omit the gender bias out of it.
He said that the central government should not itself tinker with JK’s special status and if there is a need to amend any of its clause, it will be done by the national conference once it is voted to power.
“If there is a gender bias in Article 35-A or in state subject law, we can take care of it in assembly. The central government shouldn’t fiddle with it while there is no elected government in place in the state,” Farooq Abdullah had said. |
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