Article 370
Article 370 is in the news, and Omar Abdullah, CM of J&K, has been tweeting and talking in its favour, even suggesting catastrophic consequences of its abolition.The ground reality of Article 370 in J&K is that it does no good for the common man, in fact, for them it is counter-productive, while it hugely benefits the J&K elites, particularly the babus and the political elites, hence the opposition from them.
Let's look at its historical context and other aspects.
Why was special provision made for J&K? Why Article 370?
Let’s examine.
J&K had nominated four representatives to the Indian
Constituent Assembly in June 1949—the nominations were made by Yuvraj Karan
Singh on the advice of the Council of Ministers of the State’s Interim
Government led by Sheikh Abdullah.
The J&K representatives in the Indian Constituent
Assembly chose to act differently from the other Princely States—at the behest
of Sheikh Abdullah. While the other Princely States were agreeable to a common
Constitution, J&K representatives stated they were not inclined to accept
the future Constitution of India, and they would rather have their own separate
State Constitution. This, they insisted, was allowed as per clause 7 of the Instrument of Accession. It is another
matter that the representatives of the other States could also have taken the
same position as J&K, for they too had signed the Instrument of Accession, which had the same content and format as
that signed for J&K by the Maharaja. The J&K representatives also
stated that till their new State Constitution was framed, they would be
governed by the old Constitution Act of 1939.
It was to accommodate this that a special provision had to be
made for J&K in the Constitution of India. That provision is Article 370.
Of course, Article 370 was conceived as a temporary arrangement, with hopes of
a full integration in time to come. The Article itself is labelled "Temporary provisions with respect to the
State of Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir is and shall be an
integral part of the Union of India
But why were such special provisions allowed. They could have
been blocked by the Constituent Assembly?
Interestingly, poor Hari Singh (J&K Maharaja) was already out of the
picture. Special provisions or no special provisions—he stood neither to gain
nor to lose. It was Abdullah, who after getting rid of the Maharaja, was trying
to secure and upgrade his status.
Nehru had brought in Gopalaswami Ayyangar as a Minister
without Portfolio to look after the J&K affairs. Before his visit to Europe , Nehru had finalised the draft provisions relating
to J&K with Sheikh Abdullah, which later became Article 370. He had
entrusted to Gopalaswami Ayyangar the task of piloting these provisions through
the Constituent Assembly. Ayyangar did the needful. His presentation provoked
angry protests from all sides.
Most were opposed to any discriminatory
treatment for J&K. The proposal of Article 370 was torn to pieces by the
Constituent Assembly. Ayyangar was the lone defender, and Maulana Azad was not
able to effectively support him.
In the debate, Maulana Hasrat Mohani of UP stated that while
he was not opposed to all the concessions that were being granted to his friend
Sheikh Abdullah, why make such discrimination; if all those concessions were to
be granted to the Kashmir, why not to the Baroda ruler too.
Even Ambedkar was opposed to it. Nehru had sent Abdullah to
Dr Ambedkar to explain to him the position and to draft an appropriate Article
for the Constitution. Ambedkar had
reportedly remarked: “Mr Abdullah,
you want that India should defend Kashmir, India should develop Kashmir and
Kashmiris should have equal rights as the citizens of India, but you don’t want
India and any citizen of India to have any rights in Kashmir. I am the Law
minister of India. I cannot betray the interest of my country.”
Nehru, who was then abroad, rang up Patel and requested him
to get the Article 370 through, and it was for that reason alone that Patel
relented, as Sardar did not wish to embarrass Nehru in his absence. But Sardar Patel confided to his secretary, V Shankar,
“Jawaharlal royega [Nehru will regret this].”
Strangely, Nehru made a statement on Kashmir in 1952, when
Sardar Patel was no more, “Sardar Patel was all the time dealing with these
matters.” Gopalaswami Ayyangar, dismayed by the incorrect statement, confided
to V Shankar, “It is an ill return to
the Sardar for the magnanimity he had shown in accepting Panditji’s point of
view against his better judgment.”
There are many adverse consequences of Article 370. Some of them are:
(1)Regionalism, parochialism and secessionism.
(2)Denial of fundamental right to an Indian citizen to settle in J&K permanently.
(3)Denial of fundamental right to an Indian citizen to purchase property in J&K.
(4)Deprivation of right to vote to an Indian citizen, as he or she cannot become a citizen of J&K.
(5)Denial of jobs—an Indian citizen, who is not also a citizen of J&K, cannot get a job in J&K.
(6)A woman, who is a permanent citizen of the State, loses her property, including ancestral property, if she gets married to a man who is not a citizen of the State. Also, she can’t get a job in the State, nor can she get admission in colleges getting financial aid from the State or the Union Government.
(7)Hindu immigrants who were ousted from their ancestral homes in West Pakistan at the time of partition and settled in J&K have not yet been given citizenship. This includes their children and grand children.
(1)Regionalism, parochialism and secessionism.
(2)Denial of fundamental right to an Indian citizen to settle in J&K permanently.
(3)Denial of fundamental right to an Indian citizen to purchase property in J&K.
(4)Deprivation of right to vote to an Indian citizen, as he or she cannot become a citizen of J&K.
(5)Denial of jobs—an Indian citizen, who is not also a citizen of J&K, cannot get a job in J&K.
(6)A woman, who is a permanent citizen of the State, loses her property, including ancestral property, if she gets married to a man who is not a citizen of the State. Also, she can’t get a job in the State, nor can she get admission in colleges getting financial aid from the State or the Union Government.
(7)Hindu immigrants who were ousted from their ancestral homes in West Pakistan at the time of partition and settled in J&K have not yet been given citizenship. This includes their children and grand children.
Of course, the biggest negative is that it has come in the
way of full integration of the State, which has gravely harmed both the people
of J&K and India .
Article 370 helps protect the corrupt J&K politicians
from the more stringent central provisions, and keeps them out of reach of CAG.
To the general public, it does not benefit. It is actually counter-productive.
If J&K were like any other state in India , there would have been much
more private investment in it, leading to prosperity.
Jagmohan, who had also been Governor of J&K, writes in his
book, My Frozen Turbulence in Kashmir: “Article
370 is nothing but a feeding ground for the parasites at the heart of paradise.
It skins the poor. It deceives them with its mirage. It lines the pockets of
the ‘power elites’. It fans the ego of the new ‘sultans’. In essence, it
creates a land without justice...It suffocates the very idea of India and fogs
the vision of a great social and cultural crucible from Kashmir to Kanyakumari...Over
the years, Article 370 has become an instrument of exploitation at the hands of
the ruling political elites and other vested interests in bureaucracy,
business, the judiciary and bar...It breeds separatist forces which in turn
sustain and strengthen Article 370. Apart from politicians, the richer classes
have found it convenient to amass wealth and not allow healthy financial
legislation to come to the State. The provisions of the Wealth Tax and other
beneficial laws of the Union have not been allowed to operate in the State
under the cover of Article 370...”
~~~
Above extracts from “Foundations of Misery, Part-I : India, 1947-1964” by Rajnikant Puranik.
Paperback Available @
http://pothi.com//pothi/book/rajnikant-puranik-foundations-misery
http://pothi.com//pothi/book/rajnikant-puranik-foundations-misery
Kindle Digital Edition @
Paperback Internationally Available @
https://www.createspace.com/4597773
https://www.createspace.com/4597773
No comments:
Post a Comment