J K News Today Commentary

Nearly nine months have passed since the day- August 5, 2019 , but some sections have started making adverse noises about the Article 370, but the fact remai8s it was one of the most important decision that the Modi Government had taken in the overall interest of the country. The decision announced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah has written a new chapter in the history , and it was a national necessity of the times.

The abrogation of Article 370 that granted special status to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir and had the enabling provisions conferring special rights and privi8leges to its residents was a national necessity , it has become clearer now than ever before.

A threat of unknown magnitude was emerging in the erstwhile state that had become a hot bed of militancy and more than that it was getting attracted to the radicalization destroying the very fabric of the communal harmony symbolized by the culture of sufiism. This was stretching to the extent that in the international forums had started spotlighting it negatively.

It might have been on the to-do-list of BJP that returned to power with a thumping majority in 2019 polls , and it fulfilled a long-pending obligation to itself and its ideology, but there was a greater national interest at stake. That explains why other political parties, including some of the leaders of Congress endorsed the Modi government on this which the grand old party had defended for decades..

As many understood , it was a move to integrate the whole nation under one constitution and flag – J&K had its own separate flag and constitution as well, besides only the permanent residents of the state could acquire the immovable property. That was there , as there existed political, emotional and constitutional barrier between J&K and the rest of the country, and within it there were victims of this article , because the West Pakistan refugees and Valmikis who had been living for decades were denied their citizenship rights. These victims had no rights in the state and their victimhood was nullified by the unreasonable argument that few thousand of them could upset the Muslim majority character of the state. This was more of a political and radicalism line of thinking and articulation than anything real in it. National Conference, PDP and other splinter groups, besides Congress and CPI-M at the national level never allowed this injustice to be undone.

For decades when no one dared to touch it , a strong feeling grew that it was now a permanent feature of the Indian Constitution .

This myth was broken by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah in clear terms on August 5, 2019 , in Rajya Sabha- the upper house of the Indian Parliament , when he declared article 370 and Article 35A null and void. This was an end of a privileged era for few lakhs of people, while it opened the vistas of opportunities for the neglected sections of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. With just one stroke they came at par with the rest of the citizens all across the country with all rights there for them to claim and exercise.

Moving on from this very crucial aspect, there are so many other provisions that have remained unexplored . It has not been explained as yet as to why Pakistan objected to the abolition of Article 370 when it did not recognize that constitutional provision and its relation to J&K at all over the decades. Pakistan organized a series of so-called “ solidarity” rallies and used all possible means to instigate the Kashmiri masses to rise against India . in simple words, Pakistan had only objective – furthering its falsehood that Kashmiris were being victimized . It took cognizance of Article 370 when it was abrogated , while it had been dismissing it as a useless provision all along.

Pakistan lost its argument forever. The abolition of the special status of J&K made it clear to the international community that J&K was an int5egral part of India . It acquiesced to India’s legal, political and moral authority.