The father of Indian constitution,
with utter disappointment and resentment remarked” You wish India should protect
your borders, she should build roads in your area, she should supply you food
grains, and Kashmir should get equal status as India. But Government of India
should have only limited powers and Indian people should have no rights in
Kashmir. To give consent to this proposal, would be a treacherous thing against
the interests of India and I, as the Law Minister of India, will never do it”. These words truly exhibit the fury engraved in his heart. But
do you know on which issue Dr B.R. Ambedkar proclaimed this statement? He
averred this statement on the issue of Article 370, the issue that dismayed his
more than anything else, even more than the issue of casteism prevalent in
Indian subcontinent at that time in the history.
Article 370 continues to be a
menace for the whole nation. Just due to this article, there are continuous
terror strikes, revolts by separatists and ultimately leading to perturbation
and exploitation of the people of the valley. Various authorities like the
Central Government, Indian military etc. continue to be feckless in safeguarding
the people of the valley just due to this reprehensible act. Kashmiris continue
to suffer from insurgency of Pakistani terrorists just due to this act.
Unfortunately Kashmir continues to be viewed separately from India just due to
this act. So can this act be considered as a tool for the empowerment of Kashmir?
I strongly oppose such a notion.
Today the whole nation is
undergoing a heated debate, on whether the Article 370 should be revoked or not
and I believe that the whole nation except some non-secular and anti- Indian
forces, wants its revocation. When the Modi government rolled out its vision of
abrogating the Article 370, political parties of Kashmir with its heads (Omar
Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti) and even the Indian National Congress tried to defame
the Modi government and Mr. Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir,
even went on to threaten of dire consequences involving Kashmir separating away
of Kashmir. Isn’t that ridiculous that a Chief Minister comes and threatens the
Central Government that if it doesn’t comply their demands, then he or she will
just segregate their state out of Indian union? But according to me it’s not Mr
Abdullah’s fault. He is there in a dilemma. A dilemma whether the Kashmir is
his parental state or the Act his parental property. So let me clear out his
dilemma, Mr Abdullah has no ownership of the state but yes this despicable
Article 370 is his parental act, whose main player was his own grandfather Mr
Sheikh Abdullah.
To unravel the Article 370, first
of all we need to understand its making.
Article 370 is a brain child of
Sheikh Abdullah in which he tricked the former Prime Minister of India Pandit
Jawahar Lal Nehru.
After India got independence from
British rule, all the princely states had with them three choices. The three
choices include- Union with Pakistan, Union with India or becoming a sovereign
state. At that time more than 565 princely states assimilated in India but
Kashmir continued to dodge the proposal to unify with India in a dream to become
a sovereign state. But then in no time, Pakistani troupes attacked Kashmir.
Rattled by the sudden assault by the Pakistani army, Maharaja of Kashmir agreed
to sign the instrument of accession on the condition that India will protect it
from Pakistani army. India fulfilled its promise and made the Pakistani
insurgents recede out of the valley. After that came Sheikh Abdullah. In order
to prevent Kashmir from becoming an integral part of India, Sheikh Abdullah
played a strategic trick in which he proposed that Kashmir was still not ready
to become a part of India because one third of the Kashmiris had their
occupations in Pakistan and also referred to the situation of distress in the
valley at that time and this finally led to the creation of the article 370.
Sheikh Abdullah played a huge role
in the framing of Article 370 and at that time Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru also
gave him the authority to draft the article. Very much unfortunately Sheikh
Abdullah also included a very mean act in the article, which said that the said
article can’t be revoked until and unless the revocation gets the concurrence
of Jammu and Kashmir assembly. When the text of Article 370 was finalised, Pt.
Nehru induced Gopalaswamy Ayyangar, IAS officer, in the process, as a minister
without portfolio to help the Prime Minister deal with the Kashmiri portfolio
and get it passed in the Parliament of the nation.
The article met with hugely
bolstered opposition in the parliament of India. Many prominent leaders opposed
it tooth and nail but at last Mr. Nehru asked Sardar Patel to do something and
then Sardar Patel, despite of his own disliking of Article 370, convinced all
the leaders to vote in support of the article and unfortunately this article
was included in the constitution. But even after its induction many leaders
continued to loathe the article. This is evident from the fact that Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar even refused to debate on the article 370.
At that time Jawaharlal Nehru
promised the nation that the Article 370 was a temporary act and will be
abolished after some time but the article continues to hinder the Kashmir from
becoming a part of India even after 60 years. What can be more shameful than
that?
Today all the problems in Kashmir
valley continue to take place just due to this act only. Kashmir continues to
be a hotspot of terrorist activities just due to this act and still now some
people are against the debilitation of this act.
According to article 370, the Central Government can make laws only with
concurrence of the State government, practically giving it the Veto power.
Article 352 and 360 for declaration of national and financial emergency
respectively cannot be applied in the valley of Kashmir just due to the
existence of Article 370.
While a citizen of India has only Indian citizenship, Jammu and Kashmir
citizens have two citizenships.
Anti-Defection Law is not
applicable to Jammy and Kashmir. No outsider can buy property in J&K state.
The beneficial laws such as Wealth Tax, Gift Tax & Urban Land
Ceiling Act and intermarriage with other Indian nationals do not operate in
J&K State. Even Article 356 under which President of India can impose his
rule in any state cannot be enforced in J&K without consent of the Governor
who himself is an appointee of the President.
State of J&K can refuse building of any cantonment on any site or
refuse to allot land for defence purposes.
All these things continue to exacerbate the condition of valley and
abetting the terrorists as well as other anti-nationalists forces operate in
the state. Just due to this act, our Kashmiri brothers and sisters are not safe
in their own state. Insurgents continue to cut a swathe through the valley just
due to this law. Pakistan continues to exert its rights on the state just due
to this act. The act which was temporarily made has now been transformed to a
permanent one by various people just for political gains.
What’s more is that Kashmir continues to viewed as a separated state
from India in the eyes of international community just due to this act.
Article 370 should met with completely antagonistic stance by those who
love their motherland and those who consider Kashmir as an integral part of the
nation while those who try to take advantage of this act just for their
political gains should realise the fact that motherland is greater than any
politics or position.
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat
Jai Ma Bharti
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