arresting Sheikh Abdulla, the then
PM of Kashmir. It replaced him by
Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed who
was more amenable to Indian Govt.
The Indian Govt. negotiated a new
agreement with him. The
Constitution (Application to Jammu
and Kashmir) Order promulgated
by the President of India in May
1954 came only in this wake.
Article 35A, which is now a point
of court case and debate, is a part
of 1954 Presidential Order. For the
first time, this Order made India’s
fundamental rights and Directive
Principles applicable to Jammu and
Kashmir. It integrated Jammu and
Kashmir’s finances with India. It
extended Supreme Court of India’s
jurisdiction over certain aspects of
Jammu and Kashmir. Perhaps,
those who are challenging the
Article 35A are happy with all this.
But, the Article 35A retains some
autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir.
Under it, all “residuary powers”
rested with the legislature of
Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and
Kashmir Govt. can detain persons
and it cannot be challenged before
the Supreme Court of India. It
retains the land reform measures
and also State’s final authority over
any alteration of boundaries. It
empowers the State legislature to
define permanent residents.
Problem lies here for the
challengers of Article 35A. This
Article is the last vestige of a
broken promise that India had
made to Jammu and Kashmir
decades ago. The challengers
want even this be thrown out lock,
stock and barrel.
The people of Jammu and
Kashmir feel betrayed. All these
years, they had been seeing how
the Indian rulers were dismantling
one piller after other of the
commitments made by them to the
Kashmir people and how they were
trampling the national and
democratic rights and aspirations
of people in an unilateral, arbitrary
and manipulative manner. They
September - 2018
saw how the peace and peaceful
life were seriously disturbed by
dumping massive military and
Para-military forces of the Centre
in Kashmir and with heavy military
vehicles moving with deafening
sounds and roar of unending gun
shots at one place or other. The
people were left with no alternative
but to come out countless times in
hundreds and thousands into the
streets to ventilate their grievances
and protest against the unjust,
illegal and brutal acts of
suppression. The people suffered
harassments, threats, arrests,
imprisonments, lathi beatings,
bullets and pellets, etc. in this
course. Several people lost their
lives; disappeared, orphaned and
buried in unidentified graves. All
these had only caused much
agony and inflicted deep wounds
in the hearts of Kashmir people.
With each move of arbitrary and
forcible imposition of their rule, the
Indian rulers were losing the
confidence and getting alienated
from the people of Kashmir.
Congress Party, which was in
power at the Centre for several
decades, had done everything to
integrate Jammu and Kashmir with
India while, at the same time,
shedding tears for the people. BJP,
which is at the helm of power now
at the Centre, is known for its
dogged opposition to the national
and democratic rights of Kashmir
people. It had done much to divide
the people along communal lines.
In the last more than four years,
the people of Kashmir had
experienced worst kind of
repression.
The Indian ruling classes and all
those who think that they have the
right to take away the right of
Kashmir people to decide their own
political future are mistaken. They
must know that Kashmir problem is
basically a political question and it
must be dealt as such. Any attempt
to deal with the genuine rights and
aspirations of the people as a legal
and constitutional question and on
the basis of might will only further
accentuate and complicate the
problem. The rulers who are
resorting to this method are only,
evading their political responsibility.
The Indian ruling classes must
know that they are answerable to
the people for all their actions in
Jammu and Kashmir in the last
seven decades. Here they are
dealing with the people who feel
seriously hurt, humiliated, betrayed
and suppressed. The people can
be won only politically and by
addressing and resolving their real
problems. It is the responsibility of
Indian rulers to ensure peaceful
and democratic atmosphere to the
people of Jammu and Kashmir to
freely express and exercise the
right to decide their political future.
This alone will help to find a just
and lasting solution to the Kashmir
problem.
So,
the
present
case
challenging the Article 35A as well
as its consideration by the
Supreme Court will solve no
problem whatsoever of Kashmir
people.
TARIMELA NAGIREDDY MEMORIAL TRUST PUBLICATIONS
HISTORICAL AND POLEMICAL DOCUMENTS
OF THE COMMUNIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA
VOL.I 1943-51- RS. 300/-
VOL.II 1963-72- RS. 500/-
For Details:
P.Jaswantha Rao, Secretary,
T.N.Memorial Trust, 32-13-26/1,
M.R.Puram, Vijayawada, pin-520 010.
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