Article 370
divides, Article 371 empowers people
Hari Om
Article 370
divides, Article 371 empowers people BJP patriarch LK Advani’s and Gujarat
Chief Minister and the chairman of the BJP Election Campaign Committee,
Narendra Modi’s June 23 statements on Article 370 have triggered a fierce
debate. both the leaders stated that it the Article 370 has to be repealed to
bring Jammu & Kashmir at par with other States of the Union.
Not that Article 370 was not a bone of contention between the separatist and
communal leadership of the Valley and the BJP or its earlier avatar Bharatiya
Jan Sangh before June 23, 2013. Indeed, it was, but the debate was never that
shrill as it has been since June this year.
Omar Abdullah
is wrong, Article 370 has to go
National
Conference working president and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah
was the first Kashmiri rabble-rouser to use abusive language against the BJP
leaders of mass experience. Omar
Abdullah, who invariably speaks the language of Pakistan despite being the executive
head of the State, warned the BJP leadership that Article 370 could be
abrogated only over their ‘dead bodies’. He administered the warning and
demanded resumption of a ‘sustained and meaningful’ dialogue with Pakistan on
June 25 in the presence of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who, as expected,
kept mum. The conduct of the Prime Minister gave everyone to understand that he
was perhaps in complete accord with Omar Abdullah, who had been creating
problem after problem for India
since January 2009, when the National Conference and the Congress formed a
coalition Government in Jammu and
Kashmir.
It would not be
out of place to mention that on July 22, 2008, Omar Abdullah said in the Lok
Sabha, “We will not give an inch of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board (for the
creation of more facilities for the pilgrims) as the land belongs to us” and on
March 25, 2013, he challenged Parliament by questioning its March 13, 2013
unanimous resolution on Jammu and Kashmir saying, “By terming Jammu and Kashmir
as atoot Ang of India, you cannot change the political status of the State”. In
between, he repeatedly attacked the Indian Army, demanded revocation of the
Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), condemned the laws and facilitated the
return to Kashmir of over 240 Pakistan-based terrorists of Kashmir
origin.
Article 370
row: Advani hits back at Omar
Any way, not
content with what he said on June 25, he on June 30 fielded his four
propagandists to unleash a communally-motivated misinformation campaign to
mislead and hoodwink the Muslim constituency in Kashmir.
Unleashing the attack, they fooled themselves by making three frivolous and
untenable statements in defence of Article 370. One, the Indian Parliament
‘cannot’ amend or revoke Article 370. Two, there existed no Constituent
Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir
and, hence, the question of repealing Article 370 didn’t arise at all. Three, Jammu and Kashmir is not the solitary State in the Union that enjoys a special status; there are several
States in the country which enjoy a very special status under Article 371 of
the Indian Constitution.
The first two
arguments hold no ground. The Parliament is the highest law-making body. It was
the Indian Parliament that adopted Article 370 in October 1949 as a temporary
provision and it can amend or revoke it if it so likes, as it is within its
right. It would be only desirable to quote verbatim what Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru said on November 27, 1963 and what Union Home Minister Gulzari
Lal Nanda said on December 4, 1964 in the Lok Sabha with regard to Article 370.
Nehru said, “Article 370 has been eroded, the process of gradual erosion is
going on, we should allow it to go on”. Nanda said: “Article 370 was a tunnel
through which a good deal of traffic has already passed (read extension of
Central laws) and more will…while the normal process of (Constitutional)
amendment is subject to stringent conditions, the process of amendment is very
simple – by a Presidential order – a mere executive order”. In other words,
Nanda said that the President of India using powers vested in him under Article
370 can be amended or revoked.
Article 370
anytime through a mere executive order without taking the issue to Parliament.
Nanda was absolutely right, as he only hinted at the Constitutional position.
As for the second argument, less said the better. Suffice to say that the
Constituent Assembly is never a permanent institution; it is constituted to
frame a Constitution and once the Constitution so framed is adopted and
enforced, the Constituent Assembly ceases to exist or becomes dysfunctional.
This was true of the Indian Constituent Assembly and it was true of the Jammu and Kashmir
Constituent Assembly as well. The Jammu
and Kashmir Constituent Assembly adopted the State
Constitution in 1956 and was enforced on January 26, 1957. Those in Jammu and Kashmir who
said that Article 370 cannot be amended or repealed as there exists no
Constituent Assembly in the State only ridicule themselves. It is hardly
necessary to reflect more on this point.
Article 370
of the Constitution must be repealed: Advani
Omar Abdullah’s
propagandists not only exposed themselves by questioning the sovereign
authority of Parliament, but they also exposed their intellectually bankruptcy
by equating Article 370 with Article 371. “Even in various parts of the
country, Constitutional guarantees are provided under Article 371…people should
not get misled by the elements inimical to peace and tranquility of the State.
The BJP as a divisive party which believes in creating wedge between various
sections of the population rather than binding them together,” they said.
There is no
comparison between the Article 370 and the Article 370. The Article 371, unlike
Article 370, doesn’t empower any of the States to enjoy a special status within
the Union and exercise residuary powers. Nor
does it empower any of the States to have a separate Constitution and a
separate flag.
Article 371
simply empowers the President of India to set up separate development boards
for Vidarbha and Marathawada (Maharashtra) and Saurashtra and Kutch (Gujarat). The Article 371-A protects the “religious or
social practices of the Nagas” and their “customary laws” and empowers the
Nagaland Assembly to adopt or not to adopt the Central laws concerning “ownership
and transfer of land and its resources”. It also gives “special responsibility”
to the Governor of Nagaland “with respect to law and order in the State of Nagaland”.
Article 371-B
provides for the Constitution and functions of a committee of the Legislative
Assembly of the State (of Assam) consisting of members of that Assembly elected
from the tribal areas and for a similar committee in respect of Manipur
comprising members of the Assembly elected from the areas of the State.
Article 371-C
requires the Governor to make a report to the President regarding the
administration of the areas of Manipur. Article 371-D empowers the President of
India to provide for equitable opportunities and facilities for the people
belonging to different parts of the State (of Andhra Pradesh).
Article 371-E
empowers the Parliament to establish a university in Andhra Pradesh.
Article 371-F
authorises the Parliament to protect the rights and interests of different
sections of the population in Sikkim
by creating or earmarking certain Assembly seats for candidates belonging to
such sections. It also states the Governor of Sikkim shall have special
responsibility for peace and for an equitable arrangement for ensuring the
social and economic advancement of different sections of the population of Sikkim.
Article 371-G
states no Act of Parliament in respect of religious or social practices of the
Mizos, Mizo customary laws and practices, administration of civil and criminal
justice involving decisions according to Mizo customary laws and ownership and
transfer of land shall apply to Mizoram unless the Legislative Assembly of the
State by a resolution so decides…”
Article
371-H gives special responsibility to
the Governor with respect to law and order in the State of Arunachal Pradesh
and in the discharge of his functions in relation thereto, the “Governor shall,
after consulting the Council of Ministers, exercises his individual judgment as
to the action to be taken…”
Article 371-I
states “notwithstanding anything in this (Indian) Constitution, the Legislative
Assembly of the State shall consist of not less than thirty member”.
Thus, Article
371, unlike Article 370, is beneficial for the ignored sections of society and
ignored and underdeveloped regions. It empowers the Governors in certain States
to exercise special powers and responsibilities and act according to their
individual judgment. In fact, Article 370 divides the society and promotes
fissiparous tendencies and Article 371 unites and empowers the people.
Article 370 being
used to justify Kashmiri separatism
It is time for
the nation to call the NC’s bluff and work for the abrogation of Article 370
that has armed the ruling elite in the Valley with absolute and unbridled
legislative and executive powers and enabled it to create a wall of hatred
between the Kashmiri Muslims and New Delhi and deprived the people of the State
of normal civil and political rights. It must join the abrogate-Article
370-crusade.
Source: http://www.niticentral.com/2013/07/03/article-370-divides-article-371-empowers-people-98739.html
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