The exceptional laws and rights relating to the land and the indigenous people of Jammu & Kashmir have always been a controversial topic for the country. However detrimental it may be to the state and population, it is a reality that the coalition Government in the state is in disharmony. On one hand, the BJP, in all likeliness, is set upon the dilution of Articles 35A and 370, which includes special provisions for the population endemic to the state, such as exclusive property ownership rights, while at the same time, the other face of the coin, aka, the People’s Democratic Republic has remained a staunch obstacle in the unification of the state with the rest of the country. PDP’s stand has sparked, and for many decades, is being supported by a separatist movement that demands secession from India. The eternal tug of war has suspended the judgements of various petitions which have been filed recently, demanding the dilution of the aforementioned articles by declaring them as “unconstitutional.”
The sympathizers of the unification movement claim that by granting exclusive property rights to the people of J&K, and as a result denying “outsiders” to purchase and own land, the constitution is promoting negative discrimination, as it has created a separate class of people with special rights. Many Indians are keen on the dissolution of the property clause in Article 35A, as it would enable them to enhance their assets by buying land unrestricted in the northern, more populous part of the country. This would also lead to the development of the state. Conversely, separatists are violently against this view as they consider the association of the state with the Indian Federation as unnecessary intrusion. These people, often labelled as “anti-nationalists”, also fear that the inclusion of the rest of the citizens will cause the colonization of the resources of the state. It is a laughable concern, considering that the state in question is heavily dependent upon grants from the Union Government.
The current situation is an eternal tug of war, with no signs of light at the end of the tunnel.
Courtesy/By: Utkarsh Yadav
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17 Aug 2018
