Art 370: Abrogation and its aftermath

A. Surya Prakash

(The writer is a scholar on Constitutional & Parliamentary Studies)

August 5, 2020 marks the first anniversary of the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and conversion of the erstwhile state into two union territories – Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh – but more than all this, it has meant the constitutional mainstreaming of this erstwhile state and an end to the shameful, discriminatory and undemocratic policies pursued by an entrenched elite for seven decades.

In one sudden political strike which was executed with surgical precision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah abrogated the obnoxious provisions (Art 370 and Art 35A) that militated against the core values of our Constitution a year ago and ensured that finally, everyone in Jammu and & Kashmir secured the rights and privileges available to citizens all over the country.

Looking at the changes brought about in the past 12 months, it is obvious that the Union government has pulled out all the stops to ensure that everyone living in the two UTs would get a sense of the egalitarian principle that is firmly embedded in India's Constitution. These developments extend to a wide range of issues like social and political equality, education, jobs, reservations and other rights enjoyed by the under-privileged everywhere else in the country.

It is indeed creditable that the Union government has ensured that this has been achieved within a span of 12 months. Now, for the first time after seven decades, the Indian Constitution and all the 890 central laws are fully applicable to Jammu and Kashmir. This has meant the application of 170 more central laws to J&K including progressive laws such as The Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1954; The Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2014; The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Act, 1993; The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forests Rights) Act, 2007; the National Commission for Minorities Act; and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

The question we need to ask is why the leadership of the Congress, the left parties and the state parties did not allow such crucial laws which protect Dalits and other disadvantages groups to be implemented in the erstwhile state for all these years.

Another obnoxious and discriminatory legal provision which prevented women from J&K from retaining their rights if they married outside the state has been put an end to.

The treatment meted out to around 10,000 municipal workers (Safaikaramcharis) in the erstwhile state is equally shameful. They were denied citizenship, access to education and jobs. Now, the municipal workers have become legitimate domiciles in the Union Territory with access to all rights and privileges and the Dalits and the tribal communities have got their due, as in other states. How could such discrimination happen within the geography of independent, democratic India all these years? What explanation do the Nehru-Gandhis, the Abdullahs, the Muftis, the Congress Party, the Communists and their fellow travellers have for this? Why did the Communists, the alleged standard-bearers of the working class, not take up the cause of the Dalits and Safaikaramcharis in J&K?

Apart from these initiatives, the last 12 months has seen several other momentous developments. The first of these is the rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandits who were hounded out of the valley thirty years ago by militants. The ethnic cleansing of nearly four lakh Kashmiris belonging to the Hindu minority remained a blot on India's secular credentials. In the year gone by, 4,000 of them have got jobs in the UT and many others are listed for employment. Also, over 20,000 West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs), who were treated as aliens in their own country and denied all rights, have finally been given domicile rights and financial assistance of Rs 5.50 lakh per family.

The follow-up after the constitution of the two union territories has been swift. Simple rules have been formulated for issuance of domicile certificates, which will create the much-needed level-playing field for all residents. The J&K Government has also initiated a massive recruitment drive to fill up 10,000 vacancies in the local government, with another 25,000 in the pipeline along with revised rules to enable hitherto disadvantages groups like Scheduled Tribes, OBCs and economically weaker sections, to get employment in the UT.

Other measures which have ensured mainstreaming of the UT are enforcement of the central Right to Information Act, 2005; direct supervision of the Central Vigilance Commission in regard to anti-corruption cases; and the setting up of the 18th Bench of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for the UTs of J&K and Ladakh.

The decision to make Ladakh a separate Union Territory has been hailed by the people in that region. It seemed inevitable because of the discrimination that this region suffered at the hands of the political leadership of erstwhile state of J & K for decades. The Union government has initiated innumerable measures there too to put Ladakh on the high road to development. This includes work on massive infrastructure projects in both the UTs.

One year ago, the CPI(M) described the abrogation as "an attack on democracy, secularism and the Constitution". Equally amusing was the statement of the Congress leader. Rahul Gandhi that "the nation is made by its people, not plots of land." Really? If so, are not the Kashmiri Pandits, Dalits, Tribal folk, municipal workers, people?

So, as one sees the fundamental changes brought about in the two UTs over the last one year, they remind us of the monstrous failure of the Congress leadership, which lacked the courage and confidence to correct these wrongs and hence chose to tout pusillanimity as an act of great statesmanship. As a result, J & K slipped away from the liberal, secular and democratic traditions that India stood for. But, that is now a thing of the past. It is now time to celebrate the new beginning. (PIB)