Srinagar/Aug,6: Total shut down in Kashmir and Chanab Valley and Pir Panjal district of Jammu province and Kargil area of Ladhak ahead of the hearing on Article 35 A in the Supreme Court in Delhi shows the anger going deep and wide across Jammu & Kashmir against attempts to abrogate Article 35 A protecting citizenship and property rights of the permanent resident of Jammu & Kashmir state. As already reported the Supreme Court will begin hearing a batch of petitions today . The petitions are challenging the validity of Article 35A of the Constitution, including the one filed by NGO ‘We the Citizens’. The petitions have sought to quash the article, which confers special status to permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir.
The matter is listed for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud. Article 35A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir and denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the state. The provision, which leads such women from the state to forfeit their right over property, also applies to their heirs. Political parties including the National Conference and the CPI-M, have moved the Supreme Court in support of the Article 35A that empowers the state assembly to define “permanent residents” for bestowing special rights and privileges to them. On last Sunday, life in Kashmir and Chanab Valley and Pir Panjal district of Jammu province and Kargil area of Ladhak came to a grinding halt due to a complete shutdown called by Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) and backed by several trading bodies, transport associations and civil society groups against the legal challenge. Shops ,business establishments and educational institutions were closed while all kinds of transport remained off the roads. Train services in Kashmir have been also suspended for the day.
