ARTICLE 370 IN KASHMIR

J&K - Article 370 : Article 370 is a temporary provision which gives special constitutional status to Jammu and Kashmir. It was drafted in 1947 by Sheikh Abdullah, who had by then been appointed Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir by the Maharaja Hari Singh and Jawahar Lal Nehru. This is, by far, the most debated and discussed article in the entire Constitution of India. On December 4, 1964, Union Home Minister Gulazarilal Nanda said it would be used to serve as "a tunnel in the wall" to increase the Centre's power in the valley. (Read the text of the article here) However, Sheikh Abdullah had argued that Article 370 should not be placed under temporary provisions of the Constitution. He wanted 'iron clad autonomy' for the state, which Centre didn't comply with. After independence, there was a rise in demand in Jammu and Kashmir for a 'polular plebescite' to decide if the state should remain part of India, join Pakistan or become an independent entity. Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister of India, signed an accord with Sheikh Abdullah who led the plebescite movement, and ended the demand. According to the pact, Indian government agreed to grant extensive autonomy and self-government to the state under Article 370. The main purposes of granting a special status to Jammu and Kashmir were to ensure the Kashmiris that their distinct identity would be preserved and to placate the Muslims of the state who were feeling uncertain over their future after the India-Pak partition. It is only through this Article, Indian govt maintains its links with J&K Legal experts say it is only through this article, the union government of India maintains its links with Jammu and Kashmir. According to the article, except for a few subjects like defence and foreign affairs, Centre will have to seek state government's concurrence for applying all laws. Regarding laws dealing with property, citizenship and fundamental rights, the state has an entirely different set as compared to the rest of India. Citizens from the rest of India is not permitted to buy properties in Jammu and Kashmir. One of the laws says that a woman from the state, if she marries a person from outside the state, will lose her right to buy property in Jammu and Kashmir. She will lose her rights as a citizen of J&K. However, a man, even if he marries a person from outside the state, shall continue to enjoy his rights as a citizen of J&K. The article, according to the many, has been the root cause of troubles in Jammu and Kashmir. The article encourages sessionist elements in Kashmir and other parts of he country, as it reminds the people that Kashmir is yet to be a part of India completel, they argue Implications This article specifies that except for Defence, Foreign Affairs, Finance and Communications,(matters specified in the instrument of accession) the Indian Parliament needs the State Government's concurrence for applying all other laws. Thus the state's residents lived under a separate set of laws, including those related to citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as compared to other Indians. Similar protections for unique status exist in tribal areas of India including those in Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Nagaland however it is only for the state of Jammu and Kashmir that the accession of the state to India is still a matter of dispute between India and Pakistan still on the agenda of the UN Security Council and where the Government of India vide 1974 Indira-Sheikh accord committed itself to keeping the relationship between the Union and Jammu and Kashmir State within the ambit of this article . The 1974 Indira-Sheikh accord mentions that " The State of Jammu and Kashmir which is a constituent unit of the Union of India, shall, in its relation with the Union, continue to be governed by Article 370 of the Constitution of India " . In notifications issued as far back as 1927 and 1932, the state created various categories of residents – with some being called permanent residents (PRs) with special rights. Though the law did not discriminate between female and male PRs, an administrative rule – thanks to in-built patriarchy or misogyny – made it clear that women could remain PRs only till marriage. After that they had to seek a fresh right to remain PRs. And if a woman married someone who wasn’t a Kashmiri PR, she automatically lost her own PR status. In 2004, the state high court, in the case of State of J&K vs Sheela Sawhney, declared that there was no provision in the existing law dealing with the status of a female PR who married a non-resident. The provision of women losing their PR status after marrying outside the state, therefore, did not have any legal basis. This decision was historic because it corrected an administrative anomaly and brought relief to women who married outside the state. a Progressive Democratic Party government, led ironically by a woman, Mehbooba Mufti, passed a law to overturn the court judgment by introducing a Bill styled “Permanent Residents (Disqualification) Bill, 2004’. This was not Mufti’s solo effort. Omar Abdullah’s party, the National Conference, backed this Bill and got it passed in the assembly. But it did not ultimately see the light of day for various reasons.[1] Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the state's 'Prime Minister' and leader of the Muslims in the Valley, found the inclusion of Article 370 in the 'Temporary and Transitional Provisions' of the Constitution's Part XXI unsettling. He wanted 'iron clad guarantees of autonomy'. Suspecting that the state's special status might be lost, Abdullah advocated independence from India, causing New Delhi to dismiss his government in 1953, and place him under preventive detention. Some argue that the President may, by public notification under article 370(3), declare that Article 370 shall cease to be operative and no recommendation of the Constituent Assembly is needed as it does not exist any longer. Others say it can be amended by an amendment Act under Article 368 of the Constitution and the amendment extended under Article 370(1). Art. 147 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir states no Bill or amendment seeking to make any change in the provisions of the constitution of India as applicable in relation to the State; shall be introduced or moved in either house of the Legislature. As per Art. 5 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir the executive and legislative power of the State extends to all matters except those with respect to which Parliament has power to make laws for the State under the provisions of the Constitution of India as applicable in relation to this state.