- NC chief says joining the fight upto Hurriyat
- ‘It will affect Jammu more than Kashmir’
National Conference President and three-time chief minister, Farooq Abdullah warns New Delhi of dire consequences if the Supreme Court abrogates Article 35-A that provide special rights and privileges to Jammu Kashmir residents. In the first part of the free-wheeling interview the veteran politician shares his views on how bad things can get for New Delhi and in Jammu Kashmir if the apex court abrogates the law extended to J&K through a constitution order in 1954.
What will the abrogation of Article 35-A mean for the State?
The biggest concern is to the state subject. If Article 35 A disappears, the entire state subject goes. It will affect Jammu more than Kashmir and it will affect Ladakh. So the composite culture will disappear. Maharaja (Hari Singh) was not the man who did not think about it when he brought it up. He knew that the Dogra culture will completely disappear. He did not bother about Kashmir.
Bharatiya Janata Party says any opposition to Article 35-A is communal?
It is not on demographic lines. I like to remind BJP that when in winters Kashmiris started going to Jammu and started making small homes, I remember Chaman Lal Gupta as MLA kept shouting, ‘You are trying to change the demography of Jammu by getting Muslims to settle here.’ Those Muslims were never going to settle. They were only going to survive the harsh winters. Their children were able to study because there was electricity in Jammu which wasn’t the case in Kashmir. Today, by removing Article 35-A, Jammu’s demography will completely be changed.
What will National Conference do to stop this?
The State government is already at it. I have seen that Fali Nariman, the most-learned lawyer, is there to fight this case for the State and the law minister has said that we are going to defend it with all the zeal. We will also look into the issue. We (the United Front of the opposition parties) already discussed the issue.
What if the Supreme Court decides to abrogate Article 35-A?
If the SC decides to scrap Article 35-A, New Delhi will have to face the consequences and be ready for the battleground. We will go to jails, do everything we can.
Your party said the same things about the implementation of the new GST regime?
GST was a different matter. It did not affect the principle of the State in the sense of the state subject. This is far more vital than GST.
Government of India is continuously trying to erode Article 370. Sometimes it brings the SARFAESI Act, sometimes GST issue and now this issue of abrogating Article 35-A.
A total of 94 acts have been promulgated on the state but none of them will stand the test in the court. They are all illegal. It is not me only. It is the experts who have said it. Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister of India appointed some people to look into Article 370 and the opinion brought to him after consulting the Chief Justice of India and all top lawyers of India received the report that those articles that had been implemented in the State will not stand before the court of law.
But does New Delhi care?
We are going to fight. New Delhi did not care when 2008 agitation started. When mass uprising will be there, don’t think the world will not look into it.
Will there be a mass uprising without the support of separatists?
I don’t know what they would do. I am not a separatist. I am not with Pakistan. I am with India. I said I would follow the Hurriyat so long as their path leads to the settlement of Kashmir issue. It is for them to decide. Our United Front has decided to fight against Article 35-A’s abrogation. If they want to join and be part of it, it is their wish.
And would you fight for it alongside Peoples Democratic Party?
The CM is on record saying that if New Delhi tempers with Article 35-A, she will quit and obviously she will join the ranks. It will be a mass uprising when all parties will be there. You will see lot of thousands (2008, 2009, 2010, 2016) and the flame for people’s rights will never die. We may not be alive but this thing will never die.
There has been erosion of the special status of the State over the years. Haven’t you too have been party to it?
NC has not been responsible for introducing any such law. Article 246 was introduced when we were out of power by Jagmohan. He had no concurrence. There was no government and therefore what he did was totally illegal. The minute we came to power, we were in the Supreme Court with that thing. It is a tragedy that the Supreme Court does not bring those things up. We are continuously telling the Supreme Court to look into this.
