Irresponsible response to petition on article 35 A

After half a dozen surrenders over the special status granted to Jammu & Kashmir under article 370 of the Indian constitution the PDP President and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has asked the central government to desist from tampering with the article 35 A challenged in the supreme court of the country by a non governmental organization(NGO). The warning of the Chief Minister to ally BJP commanding and controlling the central government is an indication that PDP is obviously preparing ground for abrogation of article 35 A. Keeping in view the decision of the attorney general of India of not filing a response to the petition of an NGO challenging article 35 A it is obviously clear that BJP having committed itself not to touch the contentious issues and protect the special status of the state under article 370 of the Indian constitution is violating Agenda of Allian (AoA) theagreement on the basis of which the government was formed. Instead of warning the central government of serious consequences if it did not stop tinkering with the article 35 A guaranteeing property rights act in Jammu & Kashmir the better it would have been for the Chief Minister to take up the issue at the highest level with the law ministry the when an NGO had filed a petition to challenge the article 35 A in the supreme court of the country. Had the Jammu & Kashmir government commanded and controlled by Mehbooba Mufti took up the issue of contesting seriously the litigation of the NGO against article 35 A with the law ministry the attorney general of India won’t have conveyed its unwillingness to file a response to the petition of the NGO against article 35 A. Merely crying against the petition and not mounting pressure on central government’s law ministry to contest the petition filed by an NGO against article 35 A won’t work but Mehbooba is morally obliged to ask BJP prove its words by deeds in contesting the case against article 35 A as otherwise filing of a petition against article 35 A seems to be a fixed match between PDP and BJP the two coalition partners playing with different laws concerning special status of the state from the day one .

As the supreme court has referred the matter to a three-judge bench and set a six-week deadline for final disposal, the Chief Minister has to seek change in legal course taken by the attorney general of India before the three member bench of the supreme court delivers its its verdict in September first week.

To show that she sticks to commitment of protecting article 35 A Chief Minister as President of her party should seek action from the BJP top brass against those BJP leaders who are pushing their party to bring changes in the Article 35A of the Constitution which empowers the J&K government to define “permanent residents” of the state and allow only state subjects of to settle down and buy property in the state.The BJP leaders have assertyed that article 35 A encourages alienation, deepens the concept of a separate identity and creates a political gap between the state and the rest of India. Even the
state unit of the BJP has said that Article 35-A has done more harm to the state than any other law. As the supreme court has referred the matter to a three-judge bench and set a six-week deadline for final disposal, the Chief Minister has to seek change in legal course taken by the attorney general of India before the three member bench of the supreme court delivers its its verdict in September first week.