NC, PDP join Article 35A protests
Political parties warn quashing of provision will leave adverse impact
The Kashmir Valley and a few areas in Jammu region on the fifth consecutive day on Saturday witnessed protests in support of Article 35A of the Constitution with activists of two mainstream regional parties — National Conference ( NC) and Peoples’ Democratic Party ( PDP) — joining the chorus by marching along the streets of Srinagar separately to warn that quashing of the provision will leave adverse impact on the relationship between the state and the rest of the country.
Article 35A guarantees special rights and privileges to permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir. It also empowers the state legislature to define such “permanent residents”. It was added to the Constitution through a Presidential Order in 1954 issued by the then President in exercise of the powers conferred by clause ( 1) of Article 370 of the Constitution, with the concurrence of the government of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Article 370 guarantees a special status to Jammu and Kashmir within the Indian Union.
A three- bench of the Supreme Court is scheduled to resume hearing on a petition seeking removal of Article 35A on August 6. The petition filed by an NGO, ‘ We the Citizens, believed to be an RSS think- tank, in 2014 challenges 35A on grounds that it was not added to the Constitution through amendment under Article 368 and that it was never presented before Parliament, and came into effect immediately.
In another case filed in the SC in July last year, two Kashmiri women argued that the state’s laws, flowing from Article 35A, had disenfranchised their children.
The Supreme Court was also hearing yet another plea challenging the validity of Article 370.