Two days before the scheduled date of hearing the Jammu & Kashmir Government presently run under the direct control of central government through Governor N N Vohra has choosen to move an application for abandonment of the hearing on article 35 A on the basis of the apprehensions of law and order disturbances ahead of proposed panchayat and municipal elections. Instead of allowing the moving of an application for abandonment of the proceedings of the case on the basis of the apprehensions of law and order disturbances ahead of panchayat and the municipal elections the Modi government could have itself submitted a counter affidavit before the supreme with the plea for dismissal of the petition filed by the lesser known NGO “We the Citizens” for abrogation of article 35 A. Even when the PDP’s alliance with BJP was intact and BJP was sharing power with PDP in Jammu & Kashmir neither the Modi government at the centre choose to file a counter affidavit against the petition seeking abrogation of article 35 A nor the Mehbooba government of which the BJP was a part pressed hard for filing of the much needed counter affidavit by the Modi government at the centre.
Support of National Conference to conduct of Panchayat and municipal elections linked to case on article 35 is as unpardonable mistake as is the PDP’s reluctance in severing its ties with BJP the day Modi government refused to file a counter affidavit against the petition seeking abrogation of Article 35 A. Both PDP and National Conference have to bear in mind that not deferment but dismissal of the petition filed against article 35 A is the demand of the people of Jammu & Kashmir state.
The way BJP plays politics over the case on Article 35 A by overtly and covertly denying the filing of counter affidavit just to use the issue as a trump card in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and rest of the country the PDP too tries its best to play politics over the issue by taking out protests against the attempts of tinkering with article 35 A only after loosing power with the sole intent of regaining its lost ground in its main constituency in Kashmir valley and areas of Jammu region like Chenab Valley and Pir Panchal districts. The dirty politics both BJP and PDP are playing over the issue shows that they have a secret understanding to use the issue as a trump card in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Had Mehbooba Mufti led PDP been honest to its commitment on safeguarding special status of the status the party would have pulled out of the alliance the day Modi government refused to file a counter affidavit before the Supreme Court of India. Equally condemnable are the actions of National Conference which has on one hand filed an application of intervention in the case filed by lesser known NGO “We the Citizens” for abrogation of article 35 A in the supreme court of the country and supported Vohra administration on holding panchyat and municipal elections on the other hand. Keeping in view the linking of the Article 35 A case with the panchayat and municipal elections by Vohra administration at the instance of Modi government at the centre the National Conference should not have welcomed the decision of holding panchayat and municipal elections in presence of a political chaos over article 35 A in both Kashmir and Jammu divisions of the state. Support of National Conference to conduct of Panchayat and municipal elections linked to case on article 35 is as unpardonable mistake as is the PDP’s reluctance in severing its ties with BJP the day Modi government refused to file a counter affidavit against the petition seeking abrogation of Article 35 A. Both PDP and National Conference have to bear in mind that not deferment but dismissal of the petition filed against article 35 A is the demand of the people of Jammu & Kashmir state.
