Article 35-A: Protest continue in Srinagar

Rajouri: To demand protection of Article 35-A, the protest continued on Thursday against what protesters termed as the conspiracy to tinker with the Article 35-A.
The traders staged a sit-in Thursday to mark a protest against the threat over the fiddling of Article 35-A.
Reports said the protesting traders were joined by the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik and its leaders.
A veteran trade union leader of Jammu and Kashmir, Sampat Prakash while talking to reporters during the protest said that the Article 35-A is the right of people living in the State, saying that it has been granted during Maharaja’s rule”.
He said that as a trade union leader, he was detained in 1968 after he filed writ petition over Article 35-A when a large bench comprising 11 judges was constituted. “How come Supreme Court (SC) can reopen the case after 48 years even after large bench of the top court has already unanimously decided to protect the Article 35-A,” he added.
“I have to rise up as I was the first person who defended the Article 35-A. It has to be saved and the French revolution like situation will arise in the State in case of any fiddling with the Article 35-A,” he added.
Prakash said that the Kashmiri Pandit leaders have also fought for it. “It is sacred for us,” he said, adding that it is a conspiracy hatched by the Hindu nationalists in India headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He said that every Kashmiri is ready to fight against any tinkering with Article 35-A.