JAMMU & KASHMIR MODIFIED

BJP achieves Mukherjee’s Ek Nishan, Ek Vidhan, Ek Sanvidhan Objective

Article 370 Goes, ‘State’ Bifurcated, Federal Status Lowered to Union Territory
----------

AFTER 370
REPEALED: 164 state laws
APPLIED: 106 central laws
RETAINED: 166 state acts
AMENDED: 7 state laws

-----------------

SALIENT FEATURES OF J&K
REORGANISATION BILL ’19

• UT of Ladakh sans legislature to contain Kargil and Leh
• UT of J&K with other 20 districts but with a legislature
• Governor will be Lieutenant governor of both UTs
• Rajya Sabha: All 4 seats goes to UT of J&K
• Lok Sabha: UT of J&K gets 5 seats; Ladakh 1
• The term of the legislative assembly of 5 years
• The J&K Legislative Council stands abolished
• Reorganization of assembly segments via Delimitation
• Common High Court of J&K for both the UTs
• Serving IAS, IPS, IFS officers to be allocated among 2 UTs
• Future IAS, IPS, IFS officers to be borne on AGM UT cadre
• Other employees to get option to choose among 2 UTs

-----------

JAMMU: In a bold and far-reaching decision that seeks to redraw the map and future of the strife-torn region at the centre of a protracted militancy movement, the Centre government on Monday revoked Article 370 to take away Jammu and Kashmir's special status, and proposed the bifurcation of the state into two union territories-- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Fulfilling an electoral promise of the BJP less than 90 days after the Modi 2.0 government took power, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the decision in the Rajya Sabha, which approved both the resolution and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation bill. Both will now come up in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The House passed by a voice vote the resolution to abrogate Article 370 and the accompanying Article 35A ending seven decades of autonomous state government.
By scrapping Article 370, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fulfilled Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS) founder Syama Prasad Mukherjees dream who had fought against special status to Jammu and Kashmir stressing Ek Nishan, Ek Vidhan, Ek Sanvidhan (one symbol, one law and one Constitution). It had been a constant struggle since then for the BJS and its reincarnation the BJP as removal of Article 370 was at its ideological core.
The government's effort to tackle head-on the vexatious 72-year-old problem wracking the soul of the nation sent a wave of jubilation among BJP supporters and others, but provoked outrage from the NC and the PDP, the principal political parties in Jammu and Kashmir.
Unprecedented in its political courage, the decision to take away the state's special status and treat it like any other is aimed at the ending the decades old separatist movement. The contentious Article 35A which stems from Article 370 is also gone.
As Shah moved the resolution in the Rajya Sabha that Article 370 -- which allowed Jammu and Kashmir to have its own Constitution and prohibited outsiders from buying land and property in the state -- will no longer be applicable, there were also fears that the government's decisions would change the demographic profile.
According to the resolution moved by the Home minister, Article 370 ceases to be operative from Monday itself.
"The president on the recommendation of Parliament is pleased to declare as from 5th of August 2019, all clauses of the said Article 370 shall cease to be operative... ," the resolution stated.
Shah explained that under Article 370(3), there is a provision that President, on recommendation of the Parliament, has the power to amend or cease the implementation of Article 370, through a public notification.
"This has already happened on a number of occasions in the past," he noted.
The Home Minister said that post the repeal of Article 370, doors to private investment in J&K would be opened, which would in turn increase the potential for development there.
“Increased investments would lead to increased job creation and further betterment of socio-economic infrastructure in the state. Opening of buying of lands would bring in investments from private individuals and multinational companies and give a boost to the local economy, as opposed to the apprehensions raised by those opposing this historic step,” he said.
Shah said that the state had paid very heavy price due to Article 370 that has impeded the growth of the state even as the country has moved on over the years.
He said that because of Article 370, as many as 48,849 people had died in the state from 1989 to 2018. "Further, terrorism had gripped the state for decades and the reason is Article 370. Democracy never took deeper root in the state due to this provision. Because of this article, the youth had to go out of the state for education," he said.
Shah said that the Centre had spent massively for development of Jammu and Kashmir but the state had remained poor. "This was mainly because of high level of corruption in the state with three major families controlling it," he said.
Many provisions of the Constitution do not apply to the state because of Article 370, he said, noting that even today the 73rd and 74th Amendments of the Constitution, on panchayats and urban local bodies, respectively, does not apply to the state.
"Today, this House would pass the bill. Then tomorrow, Lok Sabha will pass it and then both 73rd and 74th Amendment will automatically will apply to the state of Jammu and Kashmir," Shah said.
Shah also moved a bill proposing bifurcation of J-K into two union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir division and Ladakh.
Shah said the union territory in Ladakh will have no legislature like Chandigarh. The other union territory of Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislature like Delhi and Puducherry, where key subjects like law and order are with the Centre.
As anxiety escalated with people in the Valley mostly incommunicado with no workable phones or Internet connections and questions galore on what changes this would bring in a region that evokes emotive responses nationwide, Shah said in the House that "nothing will happen".
He said full statehood will be restored to Jammu and Kashmir at "appropriate time" and after "normalcy" returns.
The government will not allow the situation to turn into another battle torn Kosovo, he said.
"It was heaven on earth and will remain so," he said replying to the debate on the resolution and the bill which were taken up together.
The Article 370 announcement, capping days of uncertainty in Jammu and Kashmir, led to an uproar, in the House and outside it too.
Everything had fallen into place for the party that has 300-plus seats in the Lok Sabha and managed the arithmetic efficiently in the Rajya Sabha too.
BJP leaders hailed the move and were buoyed by support from some regional parties like BSP, BJD, TRS and AIADMK, which extended full support to the resolution and the bill. NDA constituent JD(U) walked out.
The government's move on Article 370, said senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley, is a monumental decision towards national integration.
His party colleague Ram Madhav also hailed the decision.
"What a glorious day. Finally the martyrdom of thousands starting with Dr Shyam Prasad Mukherjee for complete integration of J&K into Indian Union is being honoured and the seven decade old demand of the entire nation being realised in front of our eyes; in our lifetime...," he tweeted.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said the government's decisions on Jammu and Kashmir are "brave" and "very necessary" for the interest of the country, including Jammu and Kashmir.
Rajya Sabha also approved the bill to extend 10 pc reservation to economically weaker sections in the state as well as the resolution on abrogating Article 370 by voice vote.