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| Parliament is supreme, says pro-autonomy Omar | | Abrogate Article 370 | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Aug 21: Anna Hazare's movement against corruption and his stand that Prime Minister and Members of Parliament must be brought under the jurisdiction of Jan Lokpal Bill have provoked Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Omar has opposed the Anna's stand on Prime Minister and Members of Parliament and asserted that Parliament is supreme. One can understand the reasons behind his opposition to the Anna's insistence. After all, he rules a state that is the second most corrupt state in the country. It is hardly necessary to reflect on this aspect, as the people of Jammu and Kashmir know who is corrupt and who is not. In fact, they believe that "most of those at the helm of affairs are nothing but a bunch of most corrupt people."
However, it is necessary to reflect on the assertion of Omar Abdullah that Parliament is supreme and that the Parliament is elected by far more people than the numbers of protestors, who have taken to the streets. Leave aside the second part and focus on the first part of his statement: Parliament is supreme. It is indeed heartening to note that Omar Abdullah has finally acknowledged that Indian Parliament is supreme and that it has the power to legislate on matters concerning the nation and the state and that Anna and his supporters must not undermine the authority of the Parliament.
Now that Omar Abdullah himself has acknowledged the supremacy of the Indian Parliament it is time for New Delhi to seize the opportunity and integrate the state fully into India. In other words, it is appropriate time for the otherwise so-called secular and liberal New Delhi to remove from the Indian statute book that Article that has raised a high wall between Kashmir and New Delhi; empowered the Kashmiri ruling elite to misuse this Article in order to deprive the people of those rights which are available to all other Indians; exercise unbridled executive and financial powers; hold the state aloof from the mainstream politics; and promote communalism and separatism. The case in point is Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
Article 370 is not an elixir; it is deadly poison. It was incorporated in the Indian Constitution in October 1949 at the behest of Jawaharlal Nehru, who wanted to keep Sheikh Abdullah of the National Conference in a good humour, notwithstanding the fact that the Sheikh was too well-known known for his hatred towards India and the people of the state, barring those belonging to a particular religious sect and to a particular ethnic stock. Nehru had hit the Indian nation below the belt by forcing the Indian Constituent Assembly to adopt Article 370. The nation continues to pay through its nose for the crime Nehru committed to please one man. Article 370 has created an impression that Jammu and Kashmir is not an integral part of India to the same extent as other states of the Union and that the political future of the state is yet to be decided.
Indian Parliament is supreme to the extent that it enacts laws for the nation and the state. Since it was the Indian Constituent Assembly that adopted Article 370, it is within the jurisdiction of the Indian Parliament to abrogate this Article. It can do so in no time. As for Omar Abdullah, he needs to be appreciated for the stand he has taken on the Indian Parliament whatever the reasons. But the question is: Will the present dispensation, which is headed by the Congress party, muster courage and say goodbye to what the genuine Indians term as "appeasement policy"? It is a difficult question considering the fact that the Congress party has at no point of time during all these years of independence practiced genuine secularism or respected cardinal principles of democracy.
However, one thing is certain: India is on the threshold of a new era full of hope and promise for the future. |
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