In the premises of the National Conference head office at Nawai Subah, security forces usually hang their garments to dry over festoon flags of Kashmir바카라s grand old party. Office-bearers of the party say they don바카라t ask the forces to remove these clothes. 바카라We feel hurt, but can바카라t do anything about it. After the revocation of Article 370, regional parties are facing an onslaught. It is sad to see our flag being covered with underwear, pyjamas and shirts. If we say anything, BJP might make it a national security issue,바카라 says Imran Nabi Dar, spokesperson of the party, with a straight face.
But what does this act by the Indian security forces have to do with the larger debate on Indian federalism, and Jammu and Kashmir바카라s position within it? To start with, it reflects the sense of powerlessness prevailing among regional political parties as well as the people of J&K.
On August 5, 2019, when the BJP government abrogated Article 370 amid a military siege, a communication blackout and the arrests of thousands, including three former chief ministers, the relationship of J&K with the Centre changed dramatically. Earlier, the state had a separate constitution. Now, as a Union Territory, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh had become separate territories under the Indian Constitution. Earlier, regional parties sought autonomy and self-rule, but now they fear to raise any such issue. There are now widespread rumours that political leaders of the state바카라s regional parties are being coerced to join other parties.
Since 1950, Kashmir바카라s politics had revolved around the political issue of Kashmir and its resolution. National Conference would repeatedly talk of restoring autonomy to J&K as the lasting solution to the issue. Since August 9, 1953, when Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was arrested, and J&K was relegated from an autonomous state within the Indian Union having its own PM and President, to a status equivalent to that of any other state within the Indian union, NC has been seeking restoration of the long-lost autonomy, with Article 370 acting as its bedrock. On June 26, 2000, the J&K assembly created ripples across the country, when, with Farooq Abdullah as chief minister, it passed an autonomy resolution with a voice vote.
Prior to contesting elections in 1996, Abdullah had promised greater autonomy to the people. In 1996, there were around 6,000 to 7,000 militants operating in J&K, with no political party ready to contest polls, when Dr Abdullah jumped into the fray. Later, speaking on the autonomy debate in 1999, he had said, 바카라No one, including the NC, was ready to take up the challenge of elections then. But we were assured by New Delhi on autonomy, so we jumped into the electoral fray, putting at risk not only our lives, but also those of lakhs of people.바카라 After the resolution was passed, copies of it were handed over to the Intelligence Bureau and the Centre. However, the then NDA government rejected the resolution.
Meanwhile, since its foundation in 1999, PDP has acted as a quasi-separatist party while seeking self-rule for J&K. Yet, in spite of their rhetoric, PDP formed the government with BJP in 2015, with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as the chief minister, followed by his daughter Mehbooba Mufti after his death.
Now, both NC and PDP have filed petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the revocation of Article 370 and seeking restoration of statehood by giving up slogans of autonomy and self-rule.
ALSO READ: Federalism And The Idea Of Regionalism
Despite raging conflict and insurgency, J&K under Article 370, which governed the Centre바카라s relationship with Jammu and Kashmir and was seen as an essential facet of India바카라s federalism, was enjoying its fruits. Constitutional experts and political parties in the state, especially NC and PDP, would always describe Article 370 as a tunnel through which the Constitution of India is applied in Kashmir. In 2014, NC vice president Omar Abdullah famously said Article 370 is the only link between J&K and the rest of India.
It must be said here that Jammu and Kashmir was not the only state enjoying special status in matters of land and identity. Under Article 371A, Nagaland also enjoys a special status, and no act of Parliament is automatically extended to Nagaland in matters of religious or social practices, ownership and transfer of land and resources, unless the state legislative assembly takes a call on it. In spite of Article 370, industrialists from across the country could get land on 90-year lease in J&K. Now, political parties in the Ladakh UT are seeking full statehood for their region, along with Article 371A like guarantees.
바카라GoI바카라s agenda of undermining and trampling the spirit of federalism started with J&K,바카라 Mehbooba tells Outlook. 바카라Never in Indian history was a state demoted to a UT and robbed of its special status. More so, in a conflict region, centralised rule with an iron fist and obliterating the middle ground of mainstream parties is fraught with danger. Alarm bells for regional and opposition parties should ideally have rung in 2019 itself, when Article 370 was abrogated,바카라 says the former CM.
바카라But perhaps the opposition didn바카라t anticipate that this model would be replicated in other states too. Whether it was expanding the BSFs jurisdiction in Punjab and West Bengal, or the rude behaviour of BJP-appointed governors in opposition-ruled states, it is clear these are all a follow-up to what was done in Kashmir,바카라 she adds.
While Mehbooba calls the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019 the root cause of the disempowerment of the people of J&K, many academics feel the former state hasn바카라t enjoyed the fruits of Indian federalism right since 1950.
Professor Siddiq Wahid, former vice-chancellor of Islamic University of Science and Technology at Awantipora, says India has never seriously dealt with the idea of regionalism or federalism. 바카라You won바카라t find the word 바카라federal바카라 anywhere in the Constitution of India!바카라 he says.
바카라The reason for this is that at the time of independence, neither the domestic leadership nor foreign powers were confident that the new nation would survive. The fear of break-up was expressed by the use of the term 바카라fissiparous tendencies바카라. This fear introduced a bias바카라which still exists바카라against giving regions their due. And now it has become habituated. The fate of J&K is an extreme example of this fear, but if you examine India바카라s post-Independence history, you will note that centralisation has always been the thrust of New Delhi바카라s agenda,바카라 Prof Wahid says.
ALSO READ: Renegotiating India바카라s Federal Compact
He adds that New Delhi is willing to 바카라decentralise바카라 power in states by breaking up larger ones, such as forming Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Telangana, but it has never been willing to decentralise the powers of the Centre. 바카라Specific to J&K, and in particular where it concerns us in Kashmir, the Government of India has whittled away at the first contract it formed with us바카라the Delhi Agreement of 1952바카라which was contravened the very next year (1953) with Sheikh Abdullah바카라s arrest. So, Delhi has always been insincere with promises contained in things like Article 370 or the 바카라accommodation바카라 of Article 35A, while Kashmiris have been naive.바카라
He adds that this reality will never be admitted by an Indian nationalist, be they 바카라liberal바카라 or 바카라Hindutva바카라. 바카라It is this foundational insincerity, of which all political parties at the Centre have been guilty, that has led to a collapse of trust between Delhi and Srinagar,바카라 he says.
Right now, fear and a sense of disempowerment prevails across both Kashmir and Jammu. But it is predominantly within the political class. Speaking at her Fairview residence on Gupkar Road earlier this week, Mehbooba reflected on the mood within regional parties. 바카라Since the abrogation of Article 370, everyday life is being made complicated for people. Every other day, orders are issued to usurp even those rights of the people of J&K that they were enjoying under the Indian Constitution,바카라 Mehbooba says. 바카라It has become difficult to figure out who is the worst sufferer in Kashmir. You chose any field바카라politicians, journalists or the youth바카라everyone is being made to suffer. It is the only place where journalists are made to flee,바카라 she says.
NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar says J&K was not the only place enjoying some guarantees under Article 370. 바카라We were given rights by the Constitution of India. They took those away by locking us in jails, lock, stock and barrel,바카라 Dar says. 바카라Federalism in J&K can only be rescued by the Supreme Court. Let it hear petitions challenging Article 370. We believe the court will restore Article 370 and with it, confidence in federalism not just in J&K, but across the country,바카라 says Dar. The majority of the people in J&K, though, are sceptical. 바카라In J&K, people are being treated like insects. There is no hope. There is fear everywhere. Nobody is talking. It has been almost four years since the assembly was dissolved, we still don바카라t have elections,바카라 says former minister and Panthers Party leader Harsh Dev Singh. 바카라In other states, there is democracy. Elections are held on time. We have a proxy rule in J&K. There is no federalism when it comes to J&K,바카라 says Singh.
(This appeared in the print edition as "State of Exception in Paradise")
ALSO READ
Naseer Ganai in Srinagar
