Tread carefully on an Article of faith

A petition in the Supreme Court challenging the validity of Article 35A, which gives special rights to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir, has become contentious and increased apprehensions in the state about the central government’s intentions. It is not just the petition, which was filed by an RSS supporter, that has created the doubts but even more the government’s response to it. The government did not file a counter-affidavit and, instead, told the court that the issues raised by the petition called for “a larger debate’’. Article 35A was added to the Constitution by a Presidential Order under Article 370 which already gave Jammu and Kashmir a special status. Article 35A gives exclusive property ownership and employment rights to permanent residents of the state. The RSS and the BJP have been opposed to the state’s special status, although the BJP has in the recent past decided to put its opposition on the backburner.

The government’s response has stoked fears in the Kashmir Valley that the old RSS plan to change the demographic complexion of the state by settling outsiders there and reducing the Kashmiris to a minority is still alive. This would exacerbate the already difficult situation in the state. The limited autonomy granted to the state was a part of its accession to India and it would be wrong and unwise to question it. A solemn national commitment and a constitutional guarantee cannot be violated arbitrarily and unilaterally. There is even a view, which has some merit, that it is the gradual erosion of the state’s powers under Article 370 that has created the present situation or worsened it. The court has indicated that the matter may be referred to a Constitution bench. Many in Kashmir feel that a legal basis is being prepared to deny them their special status.

All political parties and groups in the state have come together to defend Article 35A. The state government is strongly opposed to any plan to drop or dilute it. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has talked to Prime Minister Modi about it and said that she has been given an assurance that the Article would not be tampered with. But this has not allayed all the fears. The opposition National Conference has also expressed itself strongly against move on the Article. The matter may also put the PDP-BJP alliance in the state under further strain. Kashmiris are bound to consider any tampering with the Article as a betrayal of faith. This is clear from Mehbooba Mufti’s statement that there will be none left in Kashmir to hold the tricolour if Article 35A is struck down.