Some erstwhile ‘PRs of J&K’ who carry myth of ‘Special Status’ ask what ‘YOU’ gained after August 2019?
DAYA SAGAR
Although Narendra Modi had laid the tracks for alround socio- political Empowerment of subjects and the areas of “J&K ” of erstwhile State of J&K through the constitutional tools like C.O 272 of 5th Aug2019, C.O 273 of 6th August 2019 & Act-34 of 2019 but since over 7 decades before thatlot many myths and controversies had been allowed to be cultivated in the phrases like “Art-370 , a bridge between India and J&K”, “J&K having a Special Status in Constitution of India (COI) in terms of Art-370 of Constitution of India” , “Art-35A was a great welfare tool for Permanent Residents of J&K” etc still some of the common innocent masses of erstwhile state of J&K ( now UT of J&K and UT of Ladakh ) are surely to get carried away in case someone tells them NDA-III Government in Delhi has taken away the “special status” of the people of J&K in 2019 which otherwise constitutionally was never there. It is not out of place to quote here that Government of India in reply to Rajya Sabha Q* -138 on 11-03-2015 had in a way informed the nation that neither Art-370 nor any other provision in COI give Special Status to J&K but even after that many ‘leadership’ even outside Kashmir Valley had been referring to ‘special status’ while talking about J&K and not much was done for effectively carry the reply made in Parliament of India to common masses that J&K had no special status constitutionally through Art-370 which was itself a temporary provision.
As regards Art-35A that was projected as a tool for keeping the Indian citizens placed in the category of Permanent Residents of J&K at higher pedestal w.r.t other Indian citizens had been less used to benefit the PRs and more used even harm the interests Permanent Residents of J&K like not keeping any political reservation for the schedule tribe permanent residents of J&K in Legislative Assembly ( no doubt reservation for ST has now been provided for Legislative Assembly of UT of J&K ) , for violating the fundamental rights / human rights of the woman permanent residents of J&K to the extent of not giving her total freedom for choosing a life partner ( no doubt after Aug 2019 in the UT of J&K that discrimination has now been removed w.r.t Domicile rules though UT domicile rules had to be got amended a couple of times ), keeping the permanent residents of J&K devoid of adequate facilities of quality health cover & medical education by debarring recruitment of non permanent resident qualified faculty / experienced doctors in government services/ medical colleges even where the candidates are not available from within the state, and like . One would ask why, and simple answer is that the leadership just wanted to show that “J&K” can work to “own” liking and its not like other Indian states where as provisions existed then also for creating better laws/ rules to safe guard the interests of permanent residents of J&K even if other Indian citizens were discriminated. The political governments use the laws made by then legislature more as simple distancing symbols. The wrongs were regularly pointed out to the governments for corrections/ improvements for which channels were available but were not used and that could not be challenged in courts.
No doubt after C .O 272 of 5 Aug2019 { Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir ) Order of 2019 ) , C.O 273 of 6th August 2019 ( Notification/ declaration under Article 370(3) of the Constitution amending Art-370) & Act-34 of 2019 some opportunities to some local mainstream leadership (mainly Kashmir valley centric ) who have remained in frontline so far for using provisions like “Art-370, Art-35, State flag as distancing symbols have surely been snatched; and with carving out Ladakh as a UT representative character of geo- political dimension of Bharat & erstwhile princely state of J&K too have shaped in the phrase ” Ladakh to Kanyakumari” thereby making the outside world see Bharat beyond Kashmir valley.
Common man has no much time to go for intricate studies and analysis but would like to feel the benefits that would economically & administratively accrue in the immediate domains with the changes that did happen through C.O 272 of 5th Aug2019, C.O 273 of 6th August 2019 & Act-34 of 2019 concerning J&K affairs. No doubt the provision for political reservations for ST in Legislative Assembly of UT have been incorporated in law and the fundamental rights / human rights have been secured in equal forms to the female subjects of UT of J&K and UT of Ladakh (“erstwhile J&K State ) UT but still much more need be done to carry the positive messages to common masses regarding the reforms that were done in August 2019.
To be continued
(The author is a Sr Journalist & analyst of J&K Affairs. dayasagr45@yahoo.com).