Art 35, 370 and UN resolution are within the constitution of India.
The importance of Art 35 A & 370 under the constitution of India is directly related with the implementation of UN resolution which is also a valid document under the same constitution. Art 35 A was incorporated into the Indian constitution by an order of the then President of India Rajendra Prasad on the advice of cabinet. Art 35 A empowers the J&K legislatures to define the “permanent residents” of the state and provide special rights & privileges to these permanent residents like employment, & property rights. Similarly, part XXI of Indian constitution gives special status to J&K under Art 370 including Sadri Riyasat and Prime Minister of J&K. The constitution of J&K part V “The Executive” describing in detail the Head of the State shall be designated as the Sadar-i-Riyasat. Therefore, the Union Legislature has very limited jurisdiction in J&K compared to other states of India and it is the only state in India to have a separate constitution.
Amendments and its impact
In sixth amendment Act 1965 of the constitution of J&K the state constitution amended and replaced ‘Sadri Riyasat by Governor. Justice Masoodi said that “the sixth amendment did not merely change the nomenclature, but the eligibility, mode and method of appointment of Head of the State”.
In constitutional amendment 101 J&K assembly passed a resolution to adopt the goods & services tax (GST) law while as section 5 of the state constitution gives J&K exclusive taxation powers. The new tax regime rolled out across the country including J&K on July 5th 2017.
State Flag and copying of sign & colour to gain sympathy
In addition to above J&K has its own flag which is rectangular in shape and red in colour with three equidistant white vertical stripes and a white plough in the middle. Without three vertical strips the figure of flag resembles the flag of a particular party of the region which badly impacts on its the image. Being a conflict zone, the flag was considered as personal property of a particular political party and its prestige is at stake. It has been observed that it is our collective political weakness that the people are divided even on the basics of historical facts of J&K. On the same lines, to safeguard Art 35 or 370, we need to save our other historic constitutional machinery.
The example of copying the shape and colour of flag and then using it by a regional ruling parties can be seen only in kashmir. One of our regional party is enjoying its identity by stealing the shape and colour of our regional flag and another by stealing the shape and colour of a party contested elections in 90’s. In addition to this deceitful tactics the people of Kashmir have seen a bloodshed on one pretext or the other. Hence it is our collective failure to safeguard our interests politically, socially and economically by playing a negative blame game on each other.
United Nation Resolution and elections
After hearing the arguments from both neighboring countries the United Nations Security Council Resolution 47, dated April 21, 1948 instructed the commission to help both the countries to restore peace and order to the region and prepare a road map to settle the issue. Hence, General Elections held after every five years term on both sides of Kashmir under the respective control can be viewed to fulfill the Administrative exigencies only. Many killings happened in the past on this scheduled practice and much hype has been given which resulted unbearable loss to our state at large scale.
Our collective failure and road map
The historical constitutional validity of J&K which is also considered a valid document at world forum has been eroded, wrinkled and scrapped because of our collective failure and laxity. We, the people, totally failed to safeguard our historical data and not to talk about to nourish it. We utilize it for our personal gains in order to full fill our political, economical or social gain. Hence, we are now at cross road. We cannot blame anyone but it is true that a person believes in one ideology followed their own framed rules & regulations and another is trying to deface it at any cost. One is celebrating flag day another is opposing it and vice versa. It means that we are disintegrated at every nock and corner. We need to integrate in order to prepare a road map & implementing it.
Apart from personal ideology, belief and belonging let us try to share a common platform by obliging all three regions of J&K (Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh).
Shabir Ahmad Shah writes on Socio-Economic Issues.
