Remove Articles 370, 35A to resolve Kashmir

There cannot be peace in the Valley unless Articles 370 and 35A are repealed and these cannot be revoked unless the J&K legislature passes the bill. The present strength of the state legislature is 111, of which 24 seats are for Pakistan Occupied Kashmir

The main causes of the Kashmir problem stem from the past. They include preventing Indian forces from completely evicting Pakistani invaders from Kashmir, referring Kashmir to the United Nations, agreeing to a plebiscite and promulgation of Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution of India. Kashmir could not be integrated into India because of Article 370 and its offshoot, Article 35A. A provision in Article 370 stated that any change in the article was feasible only after concurrence of the Jammu & Kashmir assembly.

Article 370 provides that no outsider can purchase immovable property in J&K and several Indian laws, including the AntiDefection Law, Wealth Tax, Gift Tax & Urban Land Ceiling Act, are not applicable in J&K. Presidents Rule cannot be imposed in J&K without the governor’s consent. Although Article 370 was included in the Constitution as a temporary provision, no sincere effort was made to revoke it, or efforts were sabotaged by pro-separatist residents of the Valley.

Opponents threaten that if these articles are removed, J&K and other parts of India will witness demonstrations and violence. The Valley will become uncontrollable and relations between Kashmir and India will end, with the state becoming independent. A misconception has been spread that if these articles are removed, people from other states will purchase most of the prime land and the local residents will become landless and homeless.

Inhabitants of the Jammu and Ladakh regions are in favour of removing Articles 370, which gives special autonomous status to J&K, and 35A, which safeguards J&K’s demographic status. The government should start a debate about the benefits and drawbacks of these constitutional provisions. Inhabitants of the Valley will understand that the main reason for massive unemployment and poverty is that no investment is coming into the Valley because of these articles.

The J&K economy depends on agriculture, horticulture and tourism. The younger generation is not interested in agriculture and horticulture, which require hard labour and do not provide expected returns. The tourism industry, which generates employment for many young Kashmiris, lies in shambles.

Kashmir needs a long term strategy, including containment of terrorism, revocation of Articles 370 and 35A and employment generation programmes. Fundamentalism or extremism were unknown in the state, but separatists, with the assistance of Pakistan’s rogue InterServices Intelligence (ISI), injected fundamentalism in the Valley.

There cannot be peace in the Valley unless Articles 370 and 35A are repealed and these cannot be revoked unless the J&K legislature passes the bill. The present strength of the state legislature is 111, of which 24 seats are for Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). The effective strength of the legislature is 87 seats. Of these, 46 seats are from the Valley, while Jammu and Ladakh have 41 seats.

The present division of seats is incorrect as the total area of Jammu and Ladakh is 84.26 % while Kashmir has an area of 15.73% only. Similarly, the combined population of Jammu and Ladakh is around 45%, while the Valley has around 55%. The 226,000 refugees who came from Pakistan after partition and live in Jammu were not given citizenship rights and excluded from the 2011 census.

About 300,000 Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave the Valley and have settled in Jammu, raising its population, while Kashmir’s population has decreased. There should be delimitation in J&K and a redivision of seats in the assembly. Once seats in the Valley are reduced, Articles 370 and 35A can be revoked. Once Articles 370 and 35A are removed, industrialists can put up industries and the government should make detailed plans to develop J&K. Once peace is restored, tourism will rise and generate employment and resentment of youth will end, slowly but steadily.

Meanwhile, security forces must continue ‘Operation All Out’ and terrorists must be exterminated. Borders should be sealed to ensure minimum infiltration. . Government must ensure that financial assistance to terrorists is stopped. There should be no negotiations with Pakistan, though Prime Minister Imran Khan is sending feelers to initiate talks, but not making any promises to stop assistance to terrorist outfits and arrest terrorist leaders like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar.