Srinagar,/June, 28:-Expressing his serious concern over the unchecked issuance of domicile certificates to non locals , Chairman People’s Democratic Front PDF and former minister Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen on Sunday urged the government to put the whole process on hold till the petition about challenging the constitutional validity of reducing the status of jammu and kashmir from a full fledged state to Union Territory ( UT) was disposed off in the Supreme Court. He said since the unilateral and arbitrary decisions of the Union government regarding abrogation of the Art. 370 ; Art. 35-A and reducing the status of the Jammu and kashmir state to a Union territory was subjudice, authorities at the helm of affairs should immediately stop issuance of domicile certificates to non locals, till the final verdict on the case comes forth from the Supreme Court.
In a statement issued here on Sunday Hakeem Yaseen said that issuance of domicile certificates to non locals was a matter of grave concern as it would change the peculiar demographic identity of Jammu and kashmir besides usurping all local job opportunities of the unemployed youth . He has urged the Parliament Members (MPs) of Jammu and kashmir to move a private members Bill in Parliament to highlight concerns of the people of Jammu and kashmir that new domicile laws and reducing the status of full fledged Jammu and kashmir state to a Union territory was unconditional and against the will of the people.
He said the Parliament Members of kashmir should vociferously contest central government’s decision to scrape Art. 370 & Art. 35-A of the Constitution of India.
” Though all the mainstream political parties should join hands to seek restoration of the statehood to Jammu and kashmir as early as possible , but MPs from kashmir were duty bound to register their protest, on behalf of the people of the Jammu and kashmir, against the decision to scrap Art. 370 as they have sought vote from the people on the promise of safeguarding the special status of the state , Hakeem Yaseen maintained. He said Parliament Members should avail thier democratic right to duely represent aspirations of thier people in the Parliament and should initiate a lively debate in the Parliament , backed with full arguments , to prove that reducing the status of Jammu and kashmir to Union territory level was totally unconstitutional and arbitrary. He said MPs of kashmir should not behave like dumb ducks in the Parliament but strive to protect the special identity of jammu and kashmir as guaranteed under the Constitution of the state. He said through a debate in Parliament on the controversial domicile laws, people of the county especially intelligentsia would be able to know about the historical and political significance of Art. 370 adding that secular minded people of the county should know that central government’s arbitrary and unilateral decisions to scrap the Art. 370 followed by controversial domicile laws were totally against the wishes of the people and have badly hurt their sentiments. He said that the Centre must read the writing on the wall that all these decisions were against the overall interests of the country.
