Jagdish R Sharma
There has been intense debate in political and social circles, post abrogation of article 370 and 35 A, that gave the erstwhile state its special status and the mandate to define its domicile rules. It has also caught the world’s attention, while the neighbouring country was so irked that it severed trade ties with India much to its own peril. It was revoked on 5th August 2019, but the debate on it in domestic circles may be intensified with the political temperature rising in the country in the forerun to the 2024 general elections and J&K UT assembly elections. Though the abrogation of article 370 is sub judice, yet it will remain a matter of discussion till elections are over. After undergoing scrutiny in the apex court and elections in the JK UT, it may take time to fizzle out.
The political divide on article 370 in the country, sometimes appears to confuse the public. It has created various narratives. One of those supports its abrogation – the ruling party, its allies, and some other outfits, the second group vehemently opposes it, these are Kashmir-centric regional parties and communist parties. The third one, which changes its stance frequently at its convenience, includes some national and regional parties. Political narratives are often based upon political considerations, not on merits. While most of the political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have vowed to continue their struggle for restoration of statehood, which has already been promised by Union Home minister at the floor of the house in the parliament.
With the much-hyped eviction drive to vacate Govt land, the political bigwigs have tried to pass it on as a drive against poor and hapless people. They have miserably failed to pass it as an attempt by govt to snatch the hearth and shelter of the poor people.
Now when JCB has reached the doorsteps of political bigwigs to evict them from illegal possession, a real-life situation never expected without the nullification of Article 370.
It is something that is giving comfort to common people in JK UT across both regions. Social media is abuzz with strange comments from people on these recent developments. The Government has already declared that bigwigs will not be spared, and poor people will not be touched.
Many remarkable changes are being noticed at the ground level nowadays. Instead of sloganeering in favour of Pakistan, people carry the national tricolour even during protests or dharnas. These scenes are common at every protest site now.
Stone pelting and antinational sloganeering have become things of the past. There is no one left in the valley to Issue a hartal calendar as many of them have been brought to justice under the terror funding laws. There are no Curfews now in any part of the JK UT. Schools and colleges are working normally, and school buildings are not being burnt but instead are becoming centres of excellence in education. Union Home Minister Amit Shah while addressing the annual conference of DGPs, IGPs and heads of paramilitary forces in New Delhi, on 21st January 2023 had stated that after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, 32,000 children from other parts of the country are studying in the Union Territory, though there was a time when students from erstwhile State used to go to study abroad and other states of the country because of the militancy.
Jammu and Kashmir UT have recorded a tourist footfall of 1.62 crores for the first time in the history of 75 years of independent India. In the year 2023, J&K is expecting to touch Rs 75,000 Crore mark in terms of inbound investment proposals – of which those worth Rs 56,867 Crore have already been received and land allotted for projects worth Rs 36,000. The results of the industrial investment push will be visible on the ground by the end of the current year, in terms of up and running up units and generating jobs for locals. Foreign investment proposals worth almost 3000 crores have also been received, by those who are interested in investing in pharmaceuticals, cold storage, food processing, packaging, logistics, Med-cities, education institutions etc.
The fact of the matter is that after the annulment of Article 370, no hollow announcements are being made and dreams are not being sold at all. The maximum development works are visible on the ground, be it AIIMS, Degree colleges, medical colleges, flyovers, Roads, Highways, sports stadiums, development of tourist places, and religious sites. Horticulture, sericulture, agriculture, floriculture, poultry, and animal farmhouses are being focussed on its overall growth. The dream of digital Jammu and Kashmir has been realised within a year. The Govt. brought 400 plus services under the Public Service Guarantee Act (PSGA) and made them online.
With the repeal of Article 370, all natives of Jammu Kashmir have been given the Right To Education. The Right to Information has also given the right to know everything because the nation would be under one flag and one Nation. The law now grants all citizens the right to receive a quality education from institutions located in the state. There is a 100% possibility that new educational institutions would open, and this will educate children, particularly girls. The number of degree colleges, medical colleges and schools have been made operational recently and their intake capacity enhanced.
Most of the State Laws remain applicable after the scrapping of Article 370 including the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act. A Bench of nine judges of the Supreme Court announced 27 per cent reservation for backwards of the country, on 16th November 1992. It was slowly and gradually implemented in the whole of the country, including the Union Territories. But in Jammu and Kashmir, this judgement did not see the light of the day and it was thrown in the basket. So, this was the only state (now UT) in the country, where this judgement met this type of treatment. The main obstacle was Article 370 which debarred all the central laws to be implemented in the State unless they were routed through J&K Assembly and passed. Now all the union laws are implemented in the JK UT. Besides the ST category of Gujjar and Bakker Wal, Pahari-speaking people, Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)and the people residing in the border area have also been brought under the ambit of reservations.
More than one lakh West Pakistan refugees have been given the right to franchise in the Assembly elections in JK UT and have been added to the voter list prepared by the Election Commission last year. Ever since they had the right to vote in the parliamentary polls but not in the state elections as they were not considered a “state subject”.
The spouse of a domicile certificate holder can get the certificate upon submission of certain documents, as a new clause has been added under the J&K Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure) Rules, 2020. Earlier, the J&K women who were married outside the Union Territory, made their spouse ineligible for a domicile certificate. Now they are eligible to seek Govt jobs and purchase land.
The one Nation and One Flag concept has bridged the gap between JK UT and the rest of the country. Everyone will adhere to the motto “one nation, one constitution”.
Albeit all these happenings there are certain elements active who are whipping up emotions against “outsiders” in Jammu & Kashmir, Rahul Gandhi while after his Bharat Jodo yatra said, “Earlier, locals of Jammu used to do business here. Locals of Jammu & Kashmir used to run Jammu & Kashmir. Today ‘outsiders’ are running it. Our rights, and our voice, are not heard by the administration. He is pitching one state against another, one community against another. It can be construed upon his words that officers and other law-abiding citizens of other parts of India are outsiders. Then how the JK residents can be insiders in other parts of India? All types of malaise and trivial issues arising due to certain local reasons cannot be attributed to the annulment of article 370.
The NC and PDP, which are part of the Gupkar alliance, have their stand clear and are demanding the revival of Article 370, the BJP on the other side convinced and complacent with its long pending desire fulfilled to scrap Article 370, is playing on its good wickets, readying an electoral plank in Jammu — just as its national plank — by showcasing the Modi government’s major nationalist achievement. The Congress, which has an electoral base in Jammu, and some pockets of influence in the Valley, and still has to keep its national positioning against the BJP . It is finding the Article 370 curve here too delicate to navigate and hence in dilemma. But the fact remains that the proof of the pudding is its eating, not its appearance.
(The author is formerly Principal JK School Education Department)
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