Vijaya Gupta | School of Law, Bennett University | 15th August 2020
INTRODUCTION
Article 370 of Constitution of India give a special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir in the Indian laws. This provision came into effect in 1949 when the Constitution of India was formed and Article 370 exempted Jammu and Kashmir from the Indian Constitution.[1] Article 370(1)(c) states that the state can have its own constitution and a separate flag. The Indian laws would be applicable in the state only after the state government gives permission to the Parliament except for defense, finance, communication and external affairs. Article 370 was considered as a temporary provision of the Constitution of India which grants autonomy to Jammu & Kashmir.
Article 35A states about the laws applicable to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir. Under this provision, there are different laws which are exclusively for the residents of J&K. The people residing in J&K from the year 1911 are said to be the permanent residents.[2] It gives privileges to the residents of the Jammu and Kashmir with reference to immovable property and settlement.
HISTORY OF ARTICLE 370 AND 35A
The state of Jammu and Kashmir is a state which follows in the areas of India and Pakistan. There has been a dispute over this state between the two countries for a very long period of time. In the year 1947, Jammu and Kashmir was under the rule of Maharaja Hari Singh and it was a princely state during that time. After the partition of India and Pakistan, Maharaja decided not to joint any of the nations but decided to be a sovereign state. Though, there was a war from the Northwest Frontier Provision, Pakistan. Maharaja seek military help from the Prime Minister of India. Before forming the Constitution of India, an ‘Instrument of Accession’ was signed between India and the State of Jammu and Kashmir. This agreement included that the state would have different laws which would be applicable to the State only and some rights which will be only enjoyed by the people of Kashmir. The Union of India will not look after the matters of foreign affairs, defense and communication. Therefore, Article 370 was added in the Constitution for protecting the rights of Jammu & Kashmir. After the drafting of the Constitution, there were many wars and fights between India and Pakistan for including J&K as their part of the nation.
ABROGATION OF ARTICLE 370
In the year 2019, a history was created in the Constitution of India where Article 370 was abrogated from the Constitution of India by the ruling party of BJP Government. On 5th August, 2019, Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019 in the Parliament. The Bill brought a drastic change in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Bill states about bifurcation of the state Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories- Jammu and Kashmir. Also, Leh and Ladakh will be the Union Territories. The Bill also mentioned that Article 370 will be abrogated from the Constitution and the autonomy given to the state will be scrapped off from the Constitution. Along with Article 370, Article 35A was also abrogated in the Bill. The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha with 370 votes in favor and 70 against it. On the same day, the Bill was passed in Rajya Sabha with 125 votes in its favor and 61 against it. After the Bill was passed in both the Houses, the Bill was passed to the President for the assent and on 31st October, 2019, the President gave the assent.[3] After the assent, the Union Territories came into existence from 31st October 2019.
It was a new era for the state of Jammu and Kashmir and its people after the assent of President on the Bill. There were many effects after the revocation of Article 370 and 35A, they are as follows:
- The citizens of Kashmir have to give up their dual citizenship and follow the single citizenship.
- No special status given to the residents of the J&K
- All the laws of India are applicable to the residents of J&K.
- No restrictions over buying and selling of property by the non-residents of the state.
- Women of Kashmir will have all the legal rights and will not have to give up their property after marrying a non-Kashmir man.
- Articles 356, 360 would be applicable in the state of J&K.[4]
LIFE OF THE PEOPLE AFTER THE ABROGATION
It has been a year after Home Minister Amit Shah announced the revocation of Article 370 in the Parliament. It has been difficult time for the people of J&K as they have to see a lot of changes in their state. Today, the people are trying to get back to the normalcy as they are not able to forget the day before the announcement of the revocation. There was curfew, Section 144, CrPC was applied and all the communication was blocked in the state.
Due to this abrogation, the people of J&K suffered a lot of damage in the field of employment, agriculture, education and many other sectors. After a few months of abrogation, the economy of the state went into drastic change. The former governor of the state had announced major employment package which included 50,000 job employments to the youth over the next three months[5] but more than 90,000 people lost their jobs in the sectors of handicraft, tourism and information technology in one year.[6] It is said that J&K is facing one of its worst-employment crises. The most affected industry in Kashmir was the apple industry which costs INR 80 billion. The life of the farmers were also affected due to this revocation, they had to sell all the products at very less prices. Many businesses has got affected after the abrogation was announced.
Along with the employment, the education of many students was crumbled due to the abrogation of Article 370. Many students were not able to go to school for the past one year. Also, many students and graduates who were preparing for the competitive exams were not able to fill the online forms, did not have access to different online sources for study or submit their research papers due to the internet blockage in the country.
Though many people have suffered due to the abrogation but there are some positive results too. Before the revocation there were many terrorist attacks in the state of J&K and due to this there was a threat to the national security. After the revocation, the terrorist attack decline to 36% in the Union Territory.[7] As the J&K is a part of the country, students and people of the country can apply for the jobs in the Union Territory. The people from Kashmir are now allowed to travel around the world without any restrictions and can show their talent to the world.
CONCLUSION
Jammu and Kashmir is considered as the heaven on the Earth for its scenic beauty. It is a state in the Indian territory and had a special status which was granted to the State in the Constitution of India under Article 370. As the State had a special status in the country, there were many restrictions to the Kashmiri people and other citizens of India. People of Kashmir had witnessed many terror attacks in the State for many decades.
Article 370 was considered as the ‘temporary provision’ when the Constitution was formed. This temporary provision was still followed till the year 2019. In 2014 elections, The BJP Government stated in their manifesto about the Article 370 and stated that “Jammu and Kashmir was, is and shall remain integral part of Union of India”. Therefore, in the year 2019, the Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the Bill of abrogation of Article 370 and 35A in the Parliament. On the same day, the Centre passed the Bill and the special status given to Kashmir was removed and the state was bifurcated into two Union Territories.
All the restrictions were lifted from the Union Territory and had the Union Territory have to follow the Constitution and all the Indian laws after the abrogation of Article 370. This has also allowed the people of other states to conduct businesses, have their property, get education in the Union Territory. Also, all the restrictions imposed on the Kashmiri people before abrogation was removed and they were independent to do all the activities in every field.
There were many difficulties faced by the people after the abrogation and after one year of the abrogation still many people are facing the problems living in the Union Territory. On the other hand, there are many positive changes in the Union Territories. The BJP Government is trying their best to create a better environment for the people living in the J&K and the people will able to live a free and a happy life.
[1] Kashmir Special Status Explained: What are Article 370 and 35 A, August 5, 2019, available at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/kashmir-special-status-explained-articles-370-35a-190805054643431.html, (last visited at August 13, 2020)
[2] Kashika Mahajan, Abrogation of Article 370, 8 IJSR 1288, 1288-1290, (2019).
[3]Shivani Sharma, Vaibhav Goel, Anatomy of Article 370 and 35A: Tracing The Past to The Present, Volume X CPJ Law Journal, (2020).
[4] Supra Note 2.
[5] Nazir Masoodi, A Kashmir’s View of One Year of Article 370 Being Revoked, 04 August, 2020, available at https://www.ndtv.com/blog/a-kashmiris-view-of-one-year-of-article-370-being-revoked-2273827, (last visited on August 13, 2020)
[6] Ayaz Wani, Life in Kashmir after Article 370, Januray 28, 2020, available at https://www.orfonline.org/research/life-in-kashmir-after-article-370-60785/, (last visited August 13, 2020)
[7] Sachin Padha, PM Modi’s Development Mantra and Life in J&K After Abrogation of Article 370, August 04, 2020, available at https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/altruistic/pm-modis-development-mantra-and-life-in-jk-after-abrogation-of-article-370/, (last visited on August 13, 2020)
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