SHUTDOWN, PROTESTS, COUNTER RALLIES ACROSS J&K
SRINAGAR: Army personnel patrolled Srinagar on Thursday, where many shops were shut to mark the second year since Jammu and Kashmir was stripped of its autonomy, as the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a grouping of seven political parties in the region, resolved to continue the struggle for the restoration the “legitimate rights” of its people.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, celebrated the second anniversary of the revocation of Article 370 by holding Tiranga rallies and hoisting the national flag across Jammu and Kashmir, and the central government said that the decision has brought positives changes to the erstwhile state.
NEW DELHI: Two years after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two separate Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, there is a demand growing there for the restoration of statehood. It is significant for Ladakh to have demanded this given its long quest for UT status that had finally materialised in 2019.
The reorganisation of the state on August 5, 2019, included the reading down of articles 370 and 35(A) that gave the erstwhile state its special status and the mandate to define its domicile rules that also laid down conditions for employment. The UT of Jammu and Kashmir has a legislature, but the UT of Ladakh doesn’t have one.
While there is no unanimous demand for the restoration of the special status J&K enjoyed, with only regional parties such as the National Conference and People’s Democratic Party challenging the abrogation of the articles in court, political parties are united in their demand for the restoration of statehood. Barring the Bharatiya Janata Party at the national level, all the other parties have demanded the restoration of statehood before the delimitation exercise gets over, which is mandatory for the holding of elections according to the reorganisation law.
However, the local unit of the BJP is in favour of restoring statehood even though it was at the forefront of demanding the abrogation of the articles 370 and 35 (A). “It is a promise that the Prime Minister has made, and we want him to fulfil it. There is a concern in Jammu that even post reorganisation little has changed on the ground vis-à-vis development in the region. Then there is also the concern that taking advantage of loopholes in the law, outsiders can grab the land in Jammu as they will find the (security) situation more conducive here than in the Kashmir Valley,” said a local BJP leader.
BJP spokesperson Anil Gupta, however, said that the party is more focused on the delimitation process needed for elections. “Once a legitimate government is in place, the Union government, depending on the situation, will consider the restoration of statehood. As of today, their demand has no meaning because the PM has already assured that it will be done. The opposition parties just keep shifting the goalpost; first they did not support reorganisation and now they have problems with the delimitation.”
At an all party meeting on June 24, PM Narendra Modi had stressed on the need for stronger grassroots democracy and the importance of conducting elections in J&K, stating his commitment to restoring the region’s statehood, and urging mainstream leaders to participate in the ongoing delimitation exercise. “Our priority is to strengthen grassroots democracy in J&K. Delimitation has to happen at a quick pace so that polls can happen and J&K gets an elected government that gives strength to J&K’s development trajectory,” Modi had tweeted shortly after the meeting. But the regional satraps who raised the demand for restoration of statehood are not convinced by the Centre’s assurance. Former MP and NC leader Hasnain Masoodi said the reorganisation and the scrapping of the special status was done “citing reasons that are far from reality”.