To hold seminars on Sept 11, 12 to educate people about Article
After ‘mobilising’ the nation against the continuation of Article 35A of the Constitution, its opponents have decided to make Jammu a ‘launching pad’ for taking on the Kashmir-centric parties which are supporting the Article.
The opponents of Article 35A have decided to hold back-to-back seminars on September 10 and 11 in Jammu to educate the people about the provision.
As the National Conference and the Congress have started a campaign to raise the bogey of the influx of ‘outsiders’ in the Jammu region if Article 35A was revoked, the Jammu Kashmir Study Centre (JKSC) has chalked out detailed programmes to involve Jammu in the campaign against the Article.
The JKSC is a Delhi-based NGO which has challenged Article 35A in the Supreme Court. Its national executive team will reach Jammu on September 8 for its three-day annual meeting. The meeting will be attended by more than 150 representatives from across the country to devise a strategy for mobilising people against Article 35A.
The meeting will be followed by a national seminar on Article 35A in Jammu on September 10, which will be attended by legal luminaries of the country to highlight the flaws in the Article.
Besides screening a documentary, which was released in Delhi on September 2, the JKSC has decided to involve ‘victims’ of Article 35A in the seminar to highlight their plight.
The JKSC has reasons to choose Jammu as a ‘launching pad’ to counter the supporters of Article 35A because they have also launched a campaign to rope in people of Jammu and Ladakh by raising a fear that the two regions will be the worst affected if the Article was revoked.
Both supporters and opponents of this Article are aware that involvement of Jammu is must for their respective campaigns.
While interacting with mediapersons in Jammu on August 16, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had cautioned that Jammu will be the worst hit before such repercussions were felt in the Valley. “Not only will jobs squeeze for local youth but our business sector will also suffer tremors with the influx of traders from outside the state,” he had said, adding that the local land owners will be deprived of their holdings.
“Whosoever intends to turn up in J&K and push local businesses out of competition will find the Jammu region feasible because of its proximity to the neighbouring states apart from the relatively more conducive security scenario,” he said.
