To protest against the onslaught on Article 35-A that provides special privileges for people in J&K, Kashmiri civil society members held a sit-in protest at Pratap Park on Thursday.
Holding placards that read “India, learn to keep promises” and “assault on Article 35-A is an attack on our existence”, civil society members said they will resist the efforts aimed at tampering of special status of Jammu and Kashmir “tooth and nail”.
While addressing the media at the sit-in, chairperson Kashmir Center for Social and Development Studies (KCSDS) Hameedah Nayeem said safeguarding Article 35-A was vital because it protects constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and various other state laws.
“We hope there is a larger unity among people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh over this issue. India should desist from playing with fire by abrogating this article. From a historical perspective and with regard to Kashmir, since it was an agreement between two sovereign countries, India unilaterally could not have taken this issue to its Supreme Court. It should have gone to international court of justice,” Hameeda said.
Last week, the KCSDC passed a resolution and decided to send out a memorandum to the UN secretary general, all permanent members of UNSC and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation member countries.
“We are trying our best to contact civil society members from various parts of India but at the moment we are mobilising people in Kashmir. This will create pressure on government,” she said.
The KCSDS also pledged to sensitise people about the “grave dangers and consequences” of the proposed abrogation by using the services of religious heads and priests in all the districts of the state.
It had also decided to appeal legal luminaries of the state to fight the case in Supreme Court and to engage the services of competent lawyers in India if necessary.
Prominent industrialists and member KCSDS Shakeel Qalander said proposed abrogation to Article 35-A amounted to “breach and betrayal” by the Government of India, which has lead to a volatile situation in J&K.
“Abrogation, revocation or repealing of any special status provided to J&K state is of a serious concern. If New Delhi does not file an affidavit in the Supreme Court asking for quashing of the petition (against Article 35-A) on technical grounds, then situation will take an ugly turn in Kashmir,” Qalander said.
Political analyst Abdul Majeed Zargar said a “judicial onslaught” is being undertaken to get rid of Article 35-A, which confers special privileges and rights to permanent citizens of Jammu and Kashmir.
“They want to create Palestine like situation where people become homeless in their own home. This is a conspiracy against Kashmir,” Zargar said.
Muzaffar Ahmad Shah, senior vice-president Awami National Conference said tampering of Article 35-A is equal to tampering with the Accession of Kashmir to India.
Noted academic and political analyst Siddiq Wahid said all-out efforts should be made to oppose abrogation of Article 35-A in J&K.
“It ( Article 35-A) is a part of law and my feeling is it cannot be tampered with. What the government is doing is using other entities to divert attention. For us it is critical to not let it divert attention and fight attempts to tamper 35-A and Article 370 along with the special status of the state,” Wahid said.
Civil Society warns against tampering with Article 35A
