Article 370 & Lok Sabha Elections- The Relationship: Lalit k kaul
J&K: Article 370 and Lok Sabha Elections- The Relationship
Lalit K Kaul
Can Lok Sabha elections be conducted in J&K?
The possibility of holding one is dictated by the status of Article 370;
that's, whether it's in vogue or not. Thus, Article 370 can be the inhibitor/facilitator
in/of the process.
But the degenerate political system that
has been thriving post Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri era and has excelled in
maximizing the exploitation of the adage “Politics is the Art of the Possible”
does not recognize any legalities, constitutional validities and moral
imperatives and in their lust for capturing political power set such narratives
in public domain-while canvassing-that may end-up doing incalculable harm to
the very fabric of Indian society, the body politic and integrity of India.
It's election time in J&K and misleading
the potential voters and poisoning their minds by the leaders of the local
political outfits is unabashed. The regional parties are in full swing stoking
anti-India sentiment by the way of inciting people to be ready for
“Shahadat" because robbed “Dignity” of Muslim collective is to be
redeemed! The irony in it is that those who are responsible for dehumanizing
Kashmiri society and transforming it from being heterogeneous to homogeneous
one are talking of dignity and the tragedy is that there are significant number
of ears willing to pay heed to their incitements.
Article 370:
It's the one that has been and is being unabashedly
misused and prostituted only to derive political mileage from its cursed
existence and in doing so no political outfit- regional or national- has lagged
the others. Anyone who desires to give an example of Political Prostitution abuse
of Article 370 is the best example. And, this has been going on since March 24,
1965. And, this Political Prostitution is unique to J&K; the kind unheard
of in the rest of India.
Special Provisions to J&K as per
Article 370
i.
Indian Parliament cannot make any law or change any policy without
concurrence of State Legislature which in any way relates to – either change of names of state and
territories or any act of treaty or agreement which may change or deem to
change the integrity or disposition of any of the state’s territory.
ii.
Jammu and Kashmir has its own constitution and its own flag.
iii.
Except for matters including Defense & Security, External Affairs,
Communication etc. the Parliament of India has to take concurrence to J&K
Constitution before taking any decision.
iv.
Declaration of National and Financial emergencies cannot be applied in
J&K.
v.
The Fifth Schedule of Indian Constitution which deals with Scheduled
Tribes and administration of Scheduled Tribe areas do not hold for J&K.
vi.
Denial of citizenship to the Permanent Residents (PRs) who have migrated
to Pakistan do not apply and such person will still carry the citizenship of
India.
vii.
The government of India do not have the authority to suspend the
legislature of state as a reason of failure to comply with central government.
All the provisions, in essence, defined
the political relationship of India with the erstwhile state of J&K. But, the
point (ii) defined the status of the erstwhile state of J&K. Sovereign or
Subject? A subject State doesn't have its own constitution and flag- like, e.
g., Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, etc.- whereas a sovereign State has.
Therefore, J&K had a Prime Minister and not a Chief Minister; it had
Sadr-e-Riyasat (President) and not Governor.
Since the Chief Minister of a State cannot
have a constitution separate from the Indian Constitution and therefore
represents a Subject State, it's obligatory on part of that State to
participate in the Lok Sabha elections so that the State's interests get
addressed to and are taken care of during budgetary allocations in the
Parliament. There is no scope for non-participation. Was it applicable to the
erstwhile state of J&K? We will find out in the following lines.
Which Lok Sabha had Representatives
from the erstwhile state of J&K?
The 1st, 2nd and 3rd
Lok Sabha had no directly elected Representatives from the erstwhile state of J&K.
The first time it found such representation in Lok Sabha was in 1967. For
details, please open the link given below.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Indian_general_election_in_Jammu_and_Kashmir
The Indian National Congress had sought to
abrogate Article 370 on September 11, 1964 during a debate on private member
bill introduced on the topic. See the link below
What had changed between 1962 and 1967
that necessitated Lok Sabha Elections?
No Sovereign Nation State can have elected
Representatives in the Parliament of another Sovereign Nation State. It implies
that the erstwhile state of J&K had ceased to be sovereign and had become a
subject State of Indian Nation State. And, how could have that happened or been
brought about!
A Sovereign Nation has its Prime Minister.
The day its Prime Minister is relegated to the chair of Chief Minister it becomes
a Subject State and consequently it loses its
constitution and flag. And, that's what was achieved on 23rd
March, 1965 when Sri Lal Bahadur Sastry relegated Sri Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq to
the chair of CM from that of the PM. Sadr-e-Riyasat got relegated to Governor.
Thereafter, every five years Lok Sabha
elections were held in the erstwhile state of J&K alongside the rest of
India.
The Article 370 stood abrogated and the
final stamp on its abrogation was obtained in 1975 when Sheikh Mohammed
Abdullah was persuaded to occupy the chair of the Chief Minister of the
erstwhile state of J&K. Rest of the provisions as framed in Article 370
lost their relevance. All this was done by the Prime Ministers who belonged to
the Congress.
The minimal residuals like jurisdiction of
the CAG and streamlining the new political relationship between the two in
regard to various legal and constitutional matters remained to be done and was
not pursued by either NDA or UPA! And that was not pursued for the sole reason
of capturing political power at Center and clinging on to it.
Instead of doing that political
prostitution started that claimed from roof tops and mosques that J&K
enjoyed “special status”. Notwithstanding the fact that Sheikh Mohammed
Abdullah had acknowledged erasure of Article 370 and SAS Geelani had the
following to say: Article 370 buried by NC in 1975:
Geelani by Muhammad Raafi, 6:33 pm April 28, 2014, KL Report SRINAGAR
“Terming the statement
of National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah about the article 370 as ridicules
and politics of deceit, chairman Hurriyat Conference(G), Syed Ali Geelani Monday
said that the article 370 is recorded only in papers and the father of Farooq
Abdullah has buried this article in 1975, when he accepted chief-ministership instead
of Prime-ministership and surrendered the plebiscite movement which was
nourished with the hot blood, merely for the chair”
The icing on the cake
of political prostitution was the bill passed in both the houses of Parliament
to repeal Article 370. BJP enjoyed near full majority and that made it possible
for BJP to claim that All the Wrongs of Nehru and Congress had been corrected.
The electronic and print media started blowing the trumpet as never before; the
whole “educated” uninformed stood mesmerized and for the designated “uneducated"
it never mattered as they stood unconcerned. The candle was lit on the cake top
for celebrating 4th birthday of repeal when the SC dismissed all
petitions against the abrogation of the Article.
All the acts of self-aggrandizement
apart, what political dynamics it rolled out internationally is another matter,
but what's of immediate importance is its impact on local politics in J&K.
Impact on Local Politics
in J&K:
Ever since August 5,
2019 the local politicians in Kashmir have been on 24x7 campaign to portray
India as the colonizer who had usurped the local resources, and dignity, honour
and identity of Muslims. The campaign to restore Article 370 was started
immediately after its so-called abrogation; PAGD was born. The political
campaign launched by “mainstream” is provocative and anti-India in content.
It's no coincidence that acts of terror have increased with the commencement of
Parliamentary elections; the political speeches feed such ugly passions.
BJP who had begun to
get some foot impressions in the Valley has fled the scene. It has offered
support to those who are promising to restore status-quo-ante as it existed on
4th August, 2019. The BJP which trumpeted abrogation of the Article
370 as a momentous historical step seems to have lost its plot in Valley. The
migration from Green to Saffron seems to be facing existential threat.
The frustration is so
deep rooted for its failure in Kashmir that it's asking the exiled Pandits to
vote for their terminators in the hope that the chosen candidate may speak for
India in the Parliament and endorse the steps taken by the Government of India
since the year 2014.
The Failure:
For all the claims of
BJP with regard to Article 370, on the ground its leadership and cadre in
J&K has failed to counter the political narrative in Kashmir that's
essentially anti-India. That stupendous effort required an initiative from its
learned members- not politicians- who, through debates and conferences in
schools, colleges and universities, and by campaign of people to people contact,
would inform people about the momentous events like 23rd March, 1965
with reference to SAS Geelani’s affirmation on non-existent Article 370 and
followed it up by explaining as to why it was necessary to restart the
proceedings in the Parliament for laying the body of Article 370 – long dead
and stinking- in a deep grave for its Ghost not to rear its head again and
again. How J&K wouldn't have been participating in Lok Sabha elections
since 1967, if Article 370 was truly in vogue in both letter and spirit,
remains to be explained.
To imagine that sheer
acts of development by inviting investments from UAE and holding G20 conferences
in J&K would navigate Kashmiri Muslims’ loyalties towards India and away
from Pakistan is tantamount to either being ignorant of the reasons/causes that
traumatized J&K or being over-confident that loyalties are purchasable! BJP
leadership need to learn some lessons from the political campaign of PAGD and
re-strategize.
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