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| Delhi subverted democracy in J&K on day one to appease Kashmir | | Betrayed Jammu -- I | | RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Nov 19: A close scrutiny of the proceedings of the Indian Constituent Assembly reveals that the issues concerning Jammu and Kashmir were discussed twice - first on May 27, 1949, and finally on October 17, 1949, when Article 306-A (Article 370) was adopted. It also shows that the focus on Jammu and Kashmir on May 27 was far more sharp and revealing than what it was on October 17, despite the fact that the issue under discussion was highly sensitive and controversial and that the subjects discussed were two and not just one. (Article 370 was sensitive in the sense that it was designed to give Jammu and Kashmir a very special status and the right to have its own constitution and a flag other than the national flag. This Article was adopted in no time, despite the fact that a Muslim member of the Indian constituent assembly, Maulana Hasat Mohani had warned that the grant of special status to Kashmir (on the score of religion) would enable it to "assume independence afterwards" (Constituent Assembly Debates, Book No 5, Vol. Nos. X-XII, 6 Oct 1949 to 24 Jan 1950, reprinted by Lok Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi, Second Edition, 1989, p. 428).
It would be only desirable to ignore what transpired during the rather brief and virtually smooth discussion on Article 370 as the matter is too well known and reflect on the May 27 less-known, but very relevant issue, which kept the Constituent Assembly really engrossed in squabbles and tortuous discussions for hours together. Such an exercise is imperative to understand the reasons behind the 63-year-old complaint of the people of Jammu and Ladakh that "they have no place whatever in the country's polity" and that "it is New Delhi which is responsible for their socio-cultural and politico-economic degeneration and under-development".
In October 1947, when Jammu and Kashmir acceded to the Indian Dominion, it was hoped that the Congress Government at the Centre would surely recognize the natural right of the people of the State to return representatives of their choice to the Indian Constituent Assembly. The hope had stemmed from the June 17-18, 1934, Congress Working Committee resolution, as well as the April 1936 resolution adopted by the Congress at its Lucknow session.
The 1934 resolution had told the British government in clear terms that "the constitution must be framed by a Constituent Assembly elected on an adult franchise or a franchise which approximated to it as nearly as possible". As for the one adopted at Lucknow, it had rejected the Indian Councils Act of 1935 as "a charter of bondage" and declared that no constitution "imposed by an outside authority and no constitution which curtails the sovereignty of the people can be accepted". The belief of the people of the State that they would have a real say in the matter had been further strengthened in 1946, when the Congress urged the Cabinet Mission to permit all the male and female adults to elect the Indian Constituent Assembly and to accept the Muslim League's sectarian demand which sought election on the basis of a separate register (suggestion not accepted).
Paradoxically, the Congress Government did not come up to the expectations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The people of Jammu and Kashmir could not send representatives of their own choice to the Constituent Assembly. The Congress-dominated Constituent Assembly did not at all involve the people of the state in the process of Indian Constitution-making. Nor did it follow those election rules which the 1946 Cabinet Mission Plan had laid down for the princely states. On the contrary, it vouched for a formula which was nothing but a negation of what the Congress had all along stood for. It only pleased one person, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah of the rabidly anti-Jammu National Conference.
How else should one interpret the adoption on May 27, 1949 of the motion moved by the former Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister and the then Minister of Kashmir Affairs, Gopalaswami Ayyangar, and the speech he made while introducing it? The motion read: "Notwithstanding anything contained in paragraph 4 of the Constituent Assembly Rules all the seats in the Assembly allotted to the State of Kashmir may be filled by nomination and the representatives of the State to be chosen to fill such seats may be nominated by the ruler of Kashmir on the advice of his Prime Minister".
Ayyangar's speech went like this: "we have to choose a method by which we could get representatives into this Assembly. We are today in a position to bring to this House four persons who could be said to be fairly representative of the population of Kashmir. The point that I wish to urge is that, while two of the representatives would in any case under the present rules be persons who could be nominated by ruler, we are suggesting that all the four persons should be nominated by the ruler on the advice of his Prime Minister (read Sheikh Abdullah). The Prime Minister happens to represent the largest political party in the State…Apart from that, we have got to remember that the Prime Minister and his (National Conference) government are not based upon the Jammu and Kashmir Praja Sabha (read Legislative Assembly) but based rather upon the fact that they represent the largest political party. Therefore, it is only appropriate that the head of this party, who is also the Prime Minister, should have the privilege of advising the ruler as to who would be proper representatives of Kashmir in the Constituent Assembly…" (To be continued) |
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