Article 370

Sandeep-Pandey

Opinion 10 October 2019

IS THE COUNTRY HEADED TOWARDS A ONE PARTY SYSTEM?

        A National Alliance of People’s Movements delegation was detained at Srinagar airport on the morning of 4th October, 2019 by the District administration of Badgam and then sent back to Delhi. Individual notices in the name of three activists issued by District Magistrate of Badgam say that there was an apprehension that these activists would organise a protest in Srinagar on the issue of abrogation of Article 370 which could pose a threat to law and order and hence their entry into Jammu & Kashmir was being restricted till further order. A J&K officer was confused about why should people be sent back from Srinagar airport. If the government doesn’t want them to enter J&K why doesn’t it stop them when they are boarding their flights to Srinagar? Before the momentous decision was taken on 5th August, when tourists were being sent back, in the end when one of them remained, a 225 seater plane was sent by the Indian Air Force with one passenger! Isn’t it squandering tax-payer’s money? The NAPM delegation was planning to visit J&K for two days and wasn’t planning to organise any protests or hold any meetings. It was merely planning to meet some common people to find out what hardships they were subjected to because of the various restrictions imposed on the people of J&K. While the Union government is claiming and the Prime Minister has declared in several languages from Houston that ‘everything is all right,’ that is clearly not the case otherwise why should the government have to maintain the clampdown even two months after the decision taken to abrogate Articles 370 and 35A as well as division of state of J&K into two parts, downgrading both of them to union territories. There would not have been a need to prevent groups like NAPM from visiting J&K. All means of communication, except for land line phones, are inoperational. Newspapers, except for one ‘Brighter Kashmir, which was spotted at the airport, are not being printed. The government is desperately trying to open the schools in Kashmir Division but parents find it difficult…

No Image

India, News, Politics 12 August 2019

A cunning and irresponsible act of tweaking with Constitutional Status of Jammu & Kashmir – Samajwadi Jan Parishad

New Delhi, 12th August 2019. BJP led NDA government has abrogated Article 370 of Indian Constitution on 5th August, thereby annulling many prominent constitutional provisions. Simultaneously Central Govt. has divided the state in two Union Territories, a major down gradation from the status of ‘State with special powers. Samajwadi Jan Parishad has said that this act of Modi Government is cunning and irresponsible. Parishad issued a press statement as follows – Central Govt got three proposals cleared by Parliament. One of them empowers President of India to exercise the powers of Constituent Assembly of Kashmir in its absence. Actually, in one of its judgments last year, The Supreme Court of India had ruled that only Kashmir Constituent Assembly has the right to abrogate article 370. Once the Constituent Assembly of Kashmir was dissolved in 1957, this provision could be reconsidered only by forming another Constituent Assembly. BJP modified the Constitution itself for bypass this provision. In order to fulfill its communal agenda, the government has not only taken away the status of state but also bifurcated it into two Union Territories. To suppress expected large-scale public protests against these heinous moves, authorities deployed a record number of 50,000 security forces and suspended all types of communication links. A virtual curfew has been imposed on entire valley. The government is propagating to have corrected the historical mistake in context of Kashmir and claims that peace and tranquility will be restored in this strife and terrorism affected region once for all. However when we assess this move of BJP in the background of their ideology and character and the need to maintain sanctity of constitution, democratic uprightness and rule of law, we will realise that these steps have been taken by BJP-NDA government in contravention of basic principles of constitution, by throttling the democratic rights of people and ignoring the facets of federalism and pluralism. Rather imposing unilateral communal Hindutva agenda is the only motive behind this sinister move. The fact that opinion of citizens of Jammu and Kashmir has been blatantly ignored in the entire process, (a promise made to them…