Raja Javed Ali Bhatti
IOK has been witnessing a cataclysm of events since the ouster of People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s Mehbooba Mufti led coalition govt / imposition of Governor rule in Jun this year. In the same backdrop, Indian Governor for IOK, Satya Pal Malik dissolved IOK’s so-called assembly. Reportedly, Ms Mufti wrote to the Governor for allowing her to form a coalition govt of PDP, National Conference (NC) and Congress. Respective strength of PDP (29), NC (15) and the Congress (12) is more than the required figure of 44 for formation of govt in IOK. AFTER its failure to attain a majority (44 plus seats) in IOK Legislative Assembly … endeavouring to dilute Article 35A and abrogate Article 370 of its constitution. The division created panic in the BJP camp in the centre and the assembly was subsequently dissolved to prevent any coalition govt against the party. The dissolution of assembly paves the way for fresh elections in the State amid speculation that it could be held with the Indian Lok Sabha polls next year.
Reacting to abrupt dissolution of assembly, Ms Mufti remarked “Oddly enough our pleas fell on deaf ears. But who would have thought that the very idea of a grand coalition would give such jitters”. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said that “It is clear that BJP’s policy is either we or nobody”. Former BJP leader and former Union minister Yashwant Sinha said “the dissolution of the assembly is the latest example of the BJP to not let anyone form the govt even if that meant bypassing the Constitution”. BJP leadership in a tweet has maintained that “J&K needs a firm administration to deal with terrorism and not a combination of terror-friendly parties”.
BJP’s tweet and rumors of fresh election with LS elections, amply expose the mala-fide intents of the party that IOK will remain a corner stone of BJP campaigns for next gen elections. BJP leadership will harp “anti Pak” rhetoric and an alarming increase in the suppressive activities of Indian AF will be witnessed in the valley during this winter.
While highlighting different instance of Indian brutalities in IOK, so-called IOK assembly and BJP maneuvers to dominate the political landscape of the valley with trickery through “abrogation of 35A and 44+” plots.
Article 35A gives special rights to the permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir. It prohibits people from outside the state from buying or owning immovable property, settling permanently, or becoming beneficiaries of state-sponsored scholarship schemes. It also forbids the J&K government from hiring people who are non-permanent residents.
Article 35A was added to Article 370 by a Presidential order in 1954.
To be precise, Article 370 of the Constitution grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, while Article 35A empowers the state legislature to define the state’s ‘permanent residents’ and their special rights and privileges.
Even though the hearing over Article 35A has started in the Supreme Court on August 6, tension over it became palpable on the ground in Kashmir almost a week ago.
People, irrespective of their particular ideologies, have rallied behind the call given by the separatists on this issue.
The issue of Article 370 and Article 35A has always been associated by Kashmiris with their identity, irrespective of their demography or political leanings. All political parties in the Valley, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC. are on the same page when it comes to the two provisions which are seen as contentious across the rest of India.
The PDP leader and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has warned that no one will be left in the state to hold the national flag if Article 35A is fiddled with.
THe NC leader Omar Abdullah, on his part, has said that questioning the validity of Article 35A would be as good as challenging the accession of J&K to India.
The Centre should take the statements of these leaders as an eye-opener because these do show how seriously the matter is being taken on the ground in the state. Keeping in view the prevailing situation in Kashmir, the Centre should not make any attempt to tinker with Article 35A. Such moves only deepen the sense of alienation on the ground and push Kashmiri youths towards militancy – abrogating Article 35A may permanently alienate the people of Kashmir.
In fact, intelligence agencies have warned that the abrogation of Article 35A could create a divide within the rank and file of the state’s police force, which has been at the forefront of bravely fighting militancy in the Valley.
For the first time, the police are allowing protests while appealing for peace. The Director General of Police, Shesh Paul Vaid, said: “I am sure people will express their views peacefully and will not take to violence. I am hopeful that things will pass off peacefully.” Vaid also said that the separatists are also fighting to safeguard a provision of the Indian Constitution and that this was “a good change”.
The timing to scrap the Constitutional provision is certainly not opportune. It has not been very long since the BJP-PDP alliance ended and Governor’s Rule was enforced. There is a belief among the people that the Centre is ruling the state through the Governor. The abrogation of Article 35A, even the heated discussions around the same, will only deepen the belief and cause widespread discontent.
The BJP and its allies need to understand that if the situation in the Valley turns ugly, it will have an impact on the whole nation.
Meanwhile Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Gilani in Indian Occupied Kashmir has appealed to world human rights bodies like Amnesty International and Asia Watch to conduct a thorough probe into all unfortunate incidents of mass killings including the massacres of Gawkadal, Handwara and Kupwara.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Syed Ali Gilani in a statement issued in Srinagar said, while remembering the victims of all January 1990 massacres said that Indian occupational forces had left their brutal footprints in every nook and corner of the territory. “People were peacefully protesting against the highhandedness of forces on January 21, 1990 in Gawakada area of Srinagar when they were showered with bullets from all sides. More than 50 people were butchered on the fateful day,” he said.
Gilani said history may not have witnessed such heinous acts of barbarism. “Some people jumped into the river Jhelum and others could not even run for their life,” he said.
He said these massacre were planned and executed by the then Governor Jagmohan, but thereafter the bloody events were carried out under the nose of the so-called Kashmiri leadership which has been thriving on Kashmiris’ dead bodies for the last 70 years,” he said.
“Neither Jagmohan was questioned for his brutality nor were the local goons taken to task for their blood-drenched hands. We continue to bleed for the last seven decades but it fails to get any attention from the powers and people who day in and day out are delivering sermons on human rights, democracy and peace.”
“Unfortunately our political vultures most cunningly and hypocritically are in the race to sell our blood and honour for their belly,” he added. Hailing the courage and determination of the victim families of the massacres, Gilani said, “We can never afford to distance ourselves from the sacred mission of martyrs and we must need to try our best to get rid of this humiliating slavery.”
Syed Ali Gilani reiterated an appeal for complete shutdown on January 25 and 27 in Handwara and Kupwara towns of north Kashmir respectively to pay homage and tributes to the victims of these massacres.
