Amid BJP protests, the J&K assembly passed a resolution to reinstate its special status, underscoring the continued tensions surrounding the 2019 removal of Article 370.
On Wednesday, amid chaos, the assembly of Jammu & Kashmir passed a resolution calling for the reinstatement of the region’s special status. Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ripped copies of the resolution, invaded the House, and yelled anti-speaker shouts.
Surinder Choudhary, the National Conference (NC) leader and deputy chief minister of J&K, proposed that “Government of India to initiate dialogue with elected representatives” in order to restore the region’s special status, which was revoked in 2019.
The region’s unique status under Article 370 of the Constitution was removed by the Centre in August 2019, and the former state was divided into two UTs: Jammu & Kashmir. It had a legislature, but Ladakh did not have it. The Supreme Court affirmed Article 370’s repeal on December 11 of last year.
The National Conference-led alliance and other regional parties demanded the restoration of Article 370 and the region’s autonomy, while the BJP celebrated its repeal. These topics dominated the campaign in the recently held J&K assembly elections. According to polls, the NC won 42 of the 90 seats, while Congress, its ally, got six. The NC-led alliance crossed the 55-member mark with the help of six members of Congress, one from the Aam Aadmi Party, one from the pre-election ally CPI(M), and five independents. There are 28 members of the BJP in the House.
Article 370
Article 370, which came into effect in October 1949, granted Kashmir autonomy of internal administration, allowing it to make its own laws in all matters except finance, defence, foreign affairs and communications.
The Indian-administered region established a separate constitution and a separate flag and denied property rights in the region to outsiders.
Article 35A, a further provision added to Article 370 in 1954, empowered state lawmakers to ensure special rights and privileges for permanent residents of the state.
“After the Hon’ble Supreme Court verdict, this is the first democratic expression of the people of J&K reflecting the aspirations of the people. There should be no reason for the central government to deny rights and protection to the people of J&K that are already in vogue in many other parts of the country,” the party’s state unit president, Tariq Hameed Karra, said in a statement.
“We believe the language of this resolution could have been better. There is no condemnation of abrogation of Article 370 in this resolution. They (NC) talk about holding dialogue for restoration of the special status. What is the dialogue for? Do they have any doubt that what happened on August 5, 2019 was wrong? I would say it was a half-hearted effort,” PDP president and former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti said.
The BJP, however, continued with its protest, alleging that the resolution was prepared “in collusion with the speaker”. “The mandate (of voters) was in favour of abrogation of Article 370 because we (BJP) got 26% votes while NC got 23%. I want to tell Kashmir-centric parties that their hegemony is over,” Sharma said and hit out at the speaker for acting “as an NC leader”.
“I ask INDI alliance parties to explain who has given them r them rights to defy Supreme Court, Indian Constitution and Parliament. The resolution is a tactical support of Congress and its allies to terrorists and separatists,” BJP leader Smriti Irani said at a press conference.
She also added that “I want to assure all leaders of the INDI alliance and citizens of the country that the abrogation of Article 370, passed by Parliament, will not be restored. And their effort to divide India will not succeed,”
