⛔ India celebrates ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and steps in Azadi Ka Amritkaal⛔
⛔ C.O 272 of August 5, 2019, C.O 273 of August 6, 2019 & Act-34 of 2019 are Empowerment Tools⛔
⛔ Ladakh to Kanyakumari is Bharat⛔
Daya Sagar
People who ruled the J&K State after 1957 inspite of having good constitutional welfare tools in their hands did not make use of provisions available even for the good of the Indian Citizens who were put in the category of Permanent Residents what to talk of non permanent residents like Schedule Tribes and Woman permanent residents of J&K .Not only that over the years the ‘power centric’ groups / individual who were holding the strings of governance in J&K have managed to remain in the immediate focus of most of the Indian leadership streams also and have succeeded in making the outside world recognise & see whole of ‘J&K and Ladakh’ in expressions like ‘Kashmir’ to the extent of acknowledging “J&K” / aspirations & feels of common man of J&K just as what a leader/ writer from Kashmir valley may be naming where as Kashmir valley formed just around 10 % of princely state of J&K. No doubt before 1947 also not only the British government at occasion addressed princely state of J&K as Kashmir State even at occasions the rulers of J&K too have been using the phrase ‘Maharaja of Kashmir’. Such type of prevailing culture helped even the separatists/ antinational elements to cultivate myths in the name of Kashmir.
Prime leadership of Kashmir valley, more for vote bank politics and protecting wrong delimitations of legislative assembly, had been always trying to cultivate the theory that J&K acceded to India dominion only because the Muslim majority of Kashmir was in favour of that and in view of that special assurances had been given to people of J&K in terms of “special status”, Art-370, Art-35A, ‘Separate Flag of State’, ‘Separate Constitution of J&K’, Art-370 is a bridge and only link between India & J&K instead of doing good to the people of J&K more used these as vote catching baits. And to add to that Bharat was always described as from Kanayakumari to Kashmir and outside world new very less about vast regions of Ladakh and Jammu Where as neither the local leadership outside Kashmir Valley nor the leaders from other Indian states as well as the social groups worked seriously for undoing the myths being floated by some Kashmir valley leaders so as to take the right information to masses like accession was not to be decided by people , no any special status was given to J&K in the shape of Art-370 of Constitution of India or in some other form, the state flag did not have a status rival to Indian national flag which had same status in J&K as it had in other Indian states and instead state flag was just a sign of freedom struggle for independence from British / Autocracy, Article -370 is not a bridge between India & instead earlier was a temporary article of the constitution of India ( rather a weakest Article and the only Article for which a provision was particularly also mentioned for its modification /amendment/ removal).
The result has been that common people either remained in confusions or some were made to carry otherwise understandings or doubts even when the 1947 Accession of J&K was total and technically complete in terms of 1947 Indian independence Act..
Unlike any other Indian state J&K was also made a question so unfairly by Pakistan in the name of two nation theory as well as the tailored stories about 1947 accession of J&K.
Those who ruled the state after 1957 kept the people of all the regions of J&K lost in regional and communal controversies with the result that common man of Jammu and Ladakh regions ( even majority of Kashmir region ) remained dis-empowered ideologically, politically, legislatively and administratively which also has been providing some working grounds to separatists, anti national, anti India elements/ideologies. And hence there was no total rejection or opposition to theories like Self Rule or Achievable Nationhood by locals in Valley even when majority may not be for that.
No doubt Kashmir valley has more than 95 % Muslim population but regions like Jammu outside Kashmir Valley& Ladakh region too have large Muslim population which resides in distant / backward areas but even then these areas have remained un attended for development of agriculture / infrastructure / tourism / administrative & legislative shares. So under the power centric plans of a set of Kashmiri leaders the affairs have been actually more treated on regional basis.
So to be brief , when Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister of India the subjects of J&K were lost in many myths & confusions (even about their identity) who very much needed empowerment at Ideological, Legislative, Political, and Administrative levels.
Ideological empowerment was very much needed to make the common man understand right or wrong, to understand the negative agencies , to receive analyse & understand information and hence not to fall in the hands of disrupting, anti national , anti community and anti national elements. Modi had to medicate 7 decades old the bads of wrong handlings of J&K affairs, task was hard and challenging since it was to be taken at social as well as political levels. Political cadres needed to work with more patience and care.
The start of cutting the net woven with myths about J&K being total India like Punjab or UP was made by Narendra Modi Government on March 11, 2015 when for the first time in common man language Government of India in a written reply informed the Parliament and people of India that Article -370 did not given constitutionally any special status to J&K ( ‘Kashmir’).
Then it was using Art-370 of Constitution of India itself by which Government of India demonstrated that Art-370 was simply an article of constitution of India which could be used for reforms / betterment and this article was used to issue Order GSR-351-E {Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir ) Order made by President Notification C.O 272 dated August 5, 2019 for removing Art-35A in the same way as Article-370 had been used in 1954 to incorporate Art-35A.
Other myths that Parliament cannot touch Article – 370 and incase Art-370 is modified / deleted then ‘bridge’ connecting J&K with India will also go were also got undone by Narendra Modi lead NDA-III government when Notification/declaration under Article 370(3) of the Constitution “C.O. 273” 06-05-2019 s/d President of India was issued by Ministry of Law and Justice , Legislative Department, (saying as from the 6th August, 2019, all clauses of the said article 370 shall cease to be operative except the following which shall read as under, namely:-……) with the recommendations of Parliament of India that performed the job of legislature of J&K in terms of Art-356.
With this the belief of subjects of J&K that J&K is an inseparable unit of Union and Art-370 is not a bridge was empowered.
To be continued.
(The author is Sr Journalist, social activist and analyst J&K affairs [email protected]).
