Jammu, March 6
Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed appears to have succumbed to the pressure of hardliners who steered him to get the law passed for withdrawing the state subject rights of the girls of Jammu and Kashmir marrying an outsider.
The passing of the Bill has stirred up a hornet’s nest particularly in the Jammu region where the Mufti has come under criticism for taking the “retrograde” step.
This is expected to have a political fall out particularly in Jammu where the Congress, which is a coalition partner in the Mufti government and supported the Bill, would have a dificult time to explain the reason behind their members sitting quiet when the Bill was passed.
However, by passing the Bill the Mufti has made his own position comfortable in the valley where he was facing trouble from the National Conference (NC) against the withdrawal of the Special Leave Petition from the Supreme Court against the last year’s order of the full Bench of the high court that nullified the discrimination against the women.
The new legislation would have more implications in the Jammu region where a large number of women would be affected. It is being pointed out that there will be a negligible effect in the valley where not many women were married outside.
The claim of various leaders, particularly of the ruling PDP, that the law that was being enacted to prevent erosion of Article 370 was being taken with a pinch of salt by the people here. It is being alleged that while the government, during the current session, has “diluted” the special status of the state by bringing a Bill allowing big industrialists from outside the state mortgage the land here for raising loans, the women have been discriminated against.
The Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, has also come under severe criticism as he chaired a meeting of leaders on Thursday to evolve a consensus on the issue.
The Congress itself appears to be divided on the issue as a couple of legislators today told TNS that Mr Sharma should have weighed the damage that the step would cause to the party in Jammu where it has a base.
Mr Chaman Lal Gupta, Minister of State for Defence, today lambasted the government for bringing the “discriminatory” Bill against women.
Mr Gupta said it was unfortunate that the Congress though being a national party had again sided with those who intend to weaken the ties of the state with rest of the country.
He said it was a sheer cruelty against the daughters and all right thinking persons should raise a voice against this injustice.
Mr Bhim Singh, chairman of the Panthers Party, accused the Congress of having played a second fiddle to a Kashmir-based party by supporting the Bill against women.
He said the Congress had in 1982 supported the controversial Bill introduced by the National Conference government that provided that all those persons who had migrated to Pakistan between 1947 and 1954 shall have the right to return to J&K and also reclaim their properties.
Ms Farida Munir, a Congress MLC, said the Bill was a retrograde step against the fair sex. It would affect the women badly. She described the Bill as discriminatory.
Meanwhile, the Bill withdrawing the state subject rights of any woman marrying an outsider would be taken up by the Legislative Council on March 11.
