KASHMIR AND ABROGATION OF ARTICLE 370
So much had been written, explained, discussed in main stream media and social media on the move of the government of India in abrogating the article 370 and consequently the 35A of the Indian constitution relating to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is not one more attempt to either justify or otherwise the move of the government. Here I am trying to look at the entire episode leading to diluting the entire article 370 in the constitution and consequent abrogation of section 35A.
Britain under the prime minister Attlee decided to grant freedom to the Indian subcontinent and as proposed by the then Viceroy and later Governor General Lord Mountbatten went about dividing the country into two parts on religious lines; the Muslim majority western part and eastern part of the subcontinent were carved out into Pakistan leaving the remaining part of India as a separate country. However, for their own benefit of a larger geopolitical reasons, they wanted to have a control over the Gilgit and Baltistan part of the Jammu & Kashmir state which was under the rule of the Dogra King Maharaja Hari Singh.
The Maharaja of Kashmir Hari Singh was undecided about joining the Indian Union. He was interested in making Jammu & Kashmir as a separate dominion and keep it like Switzerland in Europe. Britain for its part wanted J&K to join Pakistan and the people of especially Jammu and Ladakh area of the state wanted to join India. The Muslim majority Kashmir valley mostly of the same sect as that of Pakistani Muslims wanted to join Pakistan. Britain, used the Pakistan's political establishment and the Commander in Chief of Pakistan army of British origin General Frank Messervy to send irregulars into Jammu and Kashmir to annex the state to become a part of Pakistan. When the Pakistan irregulars under the command of the Pakistan army almost reached the Srinagar Airport, the Maharaja Hari Singh who was reluctant to join the Indian Union sent an SOS to Government of India through his Diwan Mehr Chand Mahajan at the instance of the special envoy V P Menon from Delhi. He was also not agreeable to the condition imposed by the prime minister of India that Sheik Abdulla be made the prime minister of the state in the place of M C Mahajan.
Let us take a look at the various people who made the annexation of J&K state into India a difficult one. First the British for the reasons said above. V P Menon was a confidante of Lord Mountbatten and he was brought into the Department of States by the Governor General though the prime minister had other ideas. Jawaharlal Nehru had a long lasting friendship with Sheik Abdulla who was imprisoned by Hari Singh for treasonous activities. When Nehru went to get him released, even he was arrested and put behind bars in Srinagar for a week. Later when the Pakistani irregulars were running over the state, Hari Singh sent his Diwan seeking the intervention of Indian army to save his state and capital. Nehru was adamant in his demand that Sheik Abdulla be made the prime minister of the state and Hari Singh sign the instrument of accession. When Mahajan conveyed that the Maharaja was ready to do anything without any condition from his side and agreed for any condition from government of India and Nehru, the Indian army was asked to airlift the people to Srinagar to save the airport and the city. Maharaja Hari Singh signed the instrument of accession and it is a similar to the ones signed by other heads of other princely states. There is no truth in the various rumours circulating that the Maharaja imposed some conditions while acceding to join the Indian union.
With the country getting divided into two different countries on religious lines, two Dominion states with their respective government came into being on 15th August 1947. As both were Dominions of Britain, the prime minister of the respective country was legally under the direct rule of the Monarch of Britain. The country was faced with a grim reality of feeding millions of refugees from east and west Pakistan and also to face the challenges of the enemy trying to over-run the state of J&K which joined the Indian Union at last. The Indian army was successful in beating the Pakistan irregulars and pushed them back beyond the international borders in a few places. As it became clear to Britain that Indian army's superiority in handling the situation and the anger against the Muslims for the atrocities committed against the Hindus and Sikhs by the Pakistani Muslims, they wanted the Indian Prime Minister to announce cease fire. As it was obligatory on the part of the government of India of 1947, the prime minister announced cease fire though the Indian army reached the borders of Mirpur and Muzafarabad in the south Kashmir which are presently in POK. The information that the then PM acted without consulting the cabinet in announcing the ceasefire and the rumors castigating the first prime minister for that act are totally wrong. But many fail to understand that as a Dominion state under the British Monarchy, it is incumbent upon the government of the country to act upon any missive from the monarch without question. Whatever the actions of the prime minister had to be conveyed to the cabinet and parliament only as a post facto information and ratification as the directive was from the monarch.
However, Sheik Abdulla once became a prime minister of the princely state of J&K as a pre-condition for the acceptance of the instrument of accession signed by the Maharaja, wanted more concessions from the government of India and Nehru had given into his demands. These demands were worked out in the form of an article titled Article 370 to the constitution and the same was to be introduced in the constitution of the country. But the chairman of the constituent assembly B R Ambedkar was not ready to accede to the request of Sheik Abdulla and told him in no uncertain terms that he was not ready to create a special set of citizens in the country and refused to incorporate the article in the constitution. But Sheik Abudlla with his hold on Nehru and through his influence with other members of the constitution assembly was able to get the article introduced into the constitution though Ambedkar abstained in the meeting to register his protest. The article provided for a separate state within the state with its own constitution, flag etc. leaving only the foreign relations, currency and military in the hands of the government of India. It also provided for safe guarding the citizens of the state and their property right by incorporating some provisions by which any girl of Jammu & Kashmir marrying a person from outside the state would lose all her rights over her property within the state; however, this was not applicable to the girl marrying a person from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir areas. With Pakistan continuing its strangle hold on the POK areas, relocating many Muslims from other areas of the country into POK, this provision was being misused to get the citizenship of the state and India through the back door.
Be that as it may, there had been attempts in the parliament since the times of the first prime minister to abrogate this article. The move was made by a MP of congress in 1963 as a private member's bill. The then home minister Gulzarilal Nanda was also in favour of it. However, after a lengthy discussion in and outside parliament, the bill could not be taken up for approval by the parliament. Since then the country faced three major wars with Pakistan and came out victorious. One of the ministers in the cabinet of J Nehru, Shyama Prasad Mookherjee, the founder of Jan Sangh was vocal in his opposition to the article vesting special rights on the state of J&K. He voiced that he need not require any special permission to visit Srinagar which is part of the country. He dared Sheik Abdulla and visited Srinagar. He was arrested on arrival at Srinagar and incarcerated. In the next two days he was declared dead. His mortal remains reached Delhi and later to his home state Bengal. Since then it had been a demand of first Jan Sangh and later its another form Bharatiya Janatha Party to scrap the article 370. However, successive governments in the center and the state had been successful in diluting the article 370 thereby addressing the head of the government of the state as Prime Minister was removed and so also some of the acts of the government of India made applicable to the state of J&K. Still the control of Judiciary by Supreme Court of India, the supervisory control of RBI on the local bank, application of anti corruption laws, etc. could not fructify. The separate constitution of the state and the flag also continued without any hindrance. This created a peculiar situation where the security forces were tied in knots in handling the guerrilla war through their handmaidens of terrorists that was unleashed on the country by Pakistan knowing pretty well that in a conventional war they cannot win. The hounding out of the local Kashmiri pandits by the Muslims in the valley also was not countered in a suitable way by the government of India, thereby the Pandits from the state of J&K became refugees in their own country and many of them still are living in camps outside Delhi, Chandigarh etc.
The article 370 had by a two third majority of the parliament been diluted totally and by a proclamation of the President of India the constitution of the state had been substituted by the Indian constitution on 5th August 2019. The consequent section 35A which conferred some special provisions to the state and its people had been abrogated. How this was done is almost at par with a Houdini's act. As so much had been written about how and who were the people who created this historic move is already in the domain of public knowledge there is no point in recounting it here.
What is of relevance now is how the post-facto scenario in the state and how the fall out internationally is going to be handled by the government of India. The imposing of curfew, keeping the political leaders of the state under detention and keeping the people of the state incommunicado were the need of the hour. Slowly the restrictions are being relaxed and the schools and colleges are being opened. The markets have started operating albeit with a sense of insecurity. The people started getting limited access to communication. But still the airwaves are not fully open to access TV or satellite transmissions, or internet facilities. The international fall-out had been handled efficiently so far. However, there are many cats on the wall like UK and China. Given the position of the Northern Ireland in UK and Hong Kong and Uighur in China, both these countries will be well advised to look into their own domestic compulsions before making noises on the international arena about the internal matters of a third country. Pakistan, of course will be making all noises fearing that the next target of government of India will be to annex the POK and unifying the state of J&K. In the present context it has more worries both economically and in Baluchistan to look into than what is happening in its neighbourhood. That country also will be well advised to set its house in order before sabre rattling its nuclear capability.
However, Sheik Abdulla once became a prime minister of the princely state of J&K as a pre-condition for the acceptance of the instrument of accession signed by the Maharaja, wanted more concessions from the government of India and Nehru had given into his demands. These demands were worked out in the form of an article titled Article 370 to the constitution and the same was to be introduced in the constitution of the country. But the chairman of the constituent assembly B R Ambedkar was not ready to accede to the request of Sheik Abdulla and told him in no uncertain terms that he was not ready to create a special set of citizens in the country and refused to incorporate the article in the constitution. But Sheik Abudlla with his hold on Nehru and through his influence with other members of the constitution assembly was able to get the article introduced into the constitution though Ambedkar abstained in the meeting to register his protest. The article provided for a separate state within the state with its own constitution, flag etc. leaving only the foreign relations, currency and military in the hands of the government of India. It also provided for safe guarding the citizens of the state and their property right by incorporating some provisions by which any girl of Jammu & Kashmir marrying a person from outside the state would lose all her rights over her property within the state; however, this was not applicable to the girl marrying a person from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir areas. With Pakistan continuing its strangle hold on the POK areas, relocating many Muslims from other areas of the country into POK, this provision was being misused to get the citizenship of the state and India through the back door.
Be that as it may, there had been attempts in the parliament since the times of the first prime minister to abrogate this article. The move was made by a MP of congress in 1963 as a private member's bill. The then home minister Gulzarilal Nanda was also in favour of it. However, after a lengthy discussion in and outside parliament, the bill could not be taken up for approval by the parliament. Since then the country faced three major wars with Pakistan and came out victorious. One of the ministers in the cabinet of J Nehru, Shyama Prasad Mookherjee, the founder of Jan Sangh was vocal in his opposition to the article vesting special rights on the state of J&K. He voiced that he need not require any special permission to visit Srinagar which is part of the country. He dared Sheik Abdulla and visited Srinagar. He was arrested on arrival at Srinagar and incarcerated. In the next two days he was declared dead. His mortal remains reached Delhi and later to his home state Bengal. Since then it had been a demand of first Jan Sangh and later its another form Bharatiya Janatha Party to scrap the article 370. However, successive governments in the center and the state had been successful in diluting the article 370 thereby addressing the head of the government of the state as Prime Minister was removed and so also some of the acts of the government of India made applicable to the state of J&K. Still the control of Judiciary by Supreme Court of India, the supervisory control of RBI on the local bank, application of anti corruption laws, etc. could not fructify. The separate constitution of the state and the flag also continued without any hindrance. This created a peculiar situation where the security forces were tied in knots in handling the guerrilla war through their handmaidens of terrorists that was unleashed on the country by Pakistan knowing pretty well that in a conventional war they cannot win. The hounding out of the local Kashmiri pandits by the Muslims in the valley also was not countered in a suitable way by the government of India, thereby the Pandits from the state of J&K became refugees in their own country and many of them still are living in camps outside Delhi, Chandigarh etc.
The article 370 had by a two third majority of the parliament been diluted totally and by a proclamation of the President of India the constitution of the state had been substituted by the Indian constitution on 5th August 2019. The consequent section 35A which conferred some special provisions to the state and its people had been abrogated. How this was done is almost at par with a Houdini's act. As so much had been written about how and who were the people who created this historic move is already in the domain of public knowledge there is no point in recounting it here.
What is of relevance now is how the post-facto scenario in the state and how the fall out internationally is going to be handled by the government of India. The imposing of curfew, keeping the political leaders of the state under detention and keeping the people of the state incommunicado were the need of the hour. Slowly the restrictions are being relaxed and the schools and colleges are being opened. The markets have started operating albeit with a sense of insecurity. The people started getting limited access to communication. But still the airwaves are not fully open to access TV or satellite transmissions, or internet facilities. The international fall-out had been handled efficiently so far. However, there are many cats on the wall like UK and China. Given the position of the Northern Ireland in UK and Hong Kong and Uighur in China, both these countries will be well advised to look into their own domestic compulsions before making noises on the international arena about the internal matters of a third country. Pakistan, of course will be making all noises fearing that the next target of government of India will be to annex the POK and unifying the state of J&K. In the present context it has more worries both economically and in Baluchistan to look into than what is happening in its neighbourhood. That country also will be well advised to set its house in order before sabre rattling its nuclear capability.
Excellent, unbiased write-up. However, "Incapacitation of Article 370" would have been more appropriate a title as the provisions of that very own article has been used to make it ineffective.
ReplyDeleteVery educative and brought out the facts without any addition or deletions. Thanks.
ReplyDelete