KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Kashmir Civil Society for Development Studies (KCSDS) Sunday decided to support Kashmir Bar Association that has planned to become a party in a PIL by a rightwing group seeking undoing of Article 35 A. It will also launch a campaign at ground level to aware the people about the consequences of the abrogation that is being sought by the right-wing group.
In a statement issued by the KCSDS, the group said it will respond appropriately to the writ petition filed by so called think tank of fascist forces in the Supreme Court for the abrogation of Article 35A from the Indian constitution which protects the state subject law and associated laws of the state. The statement followed its three-hour barnstorming.
The conference had drawn a wide cross section of citizens from all walks of life including legal luminaries –Advocate Zaffer Shah, Mian Qayoom, prominent industrialists and businessmen, doctors, academics, writers, journalists, columnists, students and major civil society organisations. The participants were unanimous in condemning the state govt for its lackadaisical approach to this serious issue which will have terrible disastrous consequences for the demography and Muslim majority character of the state if such forces succeed in their nefarious designs. They said that the very act of filing writ petition for the abrogation of Article 35 A is a conspiracy to change the demography by opening the flood gates of permanent entry points into Kashmir.
The civil society of Kashmir has called upon the govt to take steps commensurate with the seriousness of the issue to defeat the communal forces’ designs.
The participants resolved to fight for the preservation of Article 35 A by all means at their disposal which provides protection to state subject law and other specific rights that restrict land owning and acquiring jobs in the state to permanent state subjects only. It further resolved to create a task force for informing public about the importance of retaining Article 35 A till the final resolution of Kashmir dispute through seminars, conferences symposia and print and social media. It resolved to inform the public about various conspiracies hatched by communal forces aimed at changing the demography and the Muslim majority character of the state.
Article 35 A of the constitution of India protects state subject law in J&K, besides other basic rights of state citizens. But Jammu and Kashmir Study Centre, a right wing NGO operating from Delhi, claims the act allows J&K to grant special privileges and rights to its permanent residents but denies the same to several others who too have genuine claims. It wants its abrogating on the plea that President of India lacks any right to issue such an order outside India’s parliament. The PIL is pending before the Supreme Court.
The issue of 35 A rocked the just concluded assembly session but the Speaker Kavinder Gupta denied a debate citing the sub-judice nature of the issue. This triggered ruckus in the assembly put eventually normality resumed. Some participants in the civil society brainstorming even alleged the state government has not assigned the case to any lawyer so far. J&K is represented in the Supreme Court by two lawyers and both are BJP nominees.
