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The Presidential order issued on
November 15, 1952, abolishing the authority of the ruler of
J&K, was totally violative of the Article 370, though the
state had been brought under the cover of autonomy from the date
of signing of the first Presidential order on January 26, 1950
in order to put a check on the powers retained by the Maharaja
for himself as ruler of the state. In the name of autonomy the
people of the state were denied the civil liberties they enjoyed
under the state Constitution of 1939.
Autocratic rulers
later governed the state through the system of Praetorian
guards, locally dubbed as kuntrich-pandah (twenty nine
and fifteen). The group of hooligans 29/15 was created by Sheikh
Abdullah and was used by the Bakhshi regime as a ‘peace
brigade’. Thousands were put in jails. Even Shyama Prasad
Mookerjee died in jail under mysterious circumstances.
The Autonomy
Resolution was adopted on June 26, 2000. Dr Karan Singh had
resigned as chairman of the committee, suspecting it to be a
document of secession. While conceding to the centre the control
over defence, foreign affairs and communications, the resolution
seeks independence from Election Commission of India, the
Supreme Court and the CAG, the abolition of the Emergency
provisions, the deletion of the entire chapter of fundamental
rights, doing away with the reservation of scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes, and replacing the central services with state
services. The resolution demands a change in the nomenclatures
of the governor and the chief minister into that of
Sadar-i-Riyast and the PM respectively, which were changed in
1965 by an amendment in the Constitution and later rejected by
Mrs Gandhi in 1975.
A history of
Kashmir from the time Raja Gulab Singh undertook to pay Rs 75
lakhs under the Treaty of Amritsar up to the signing of the
Instrument of Accession on October 25, 1947, has been traced
with a focus on the events that impacted the course of history.
The writer writes
in detail about the Indira-Sheikh accord of November 13, 1974,
which declared that the state would continue to be governed by
Article 370 without disclaiming, questioning or disrupting the
sovereignty and integrity of the country or bringing about
secession... or causing insult to the Indian National Flag,
Indian National Anthem and the Constitution and that the
plebiscite was irrelevant. "The clock cannot be put
back", Mrs Gandhi had firmly said. Thus, there was almost
an end to the autonomy call with Sheikh’s return to power,
till he died in 1982.
It is interesting
that Jammu and Ladakh regions have publicly rejected the
Autonomy Resolution. These regions have had to face
discrimination since the Pak aggression in 1947. Ladakh, has
also suffered because of its unnatural union with the Valley. No
amount of autonomy can ensure the safety of the
cultural-linguistic identity of the region. The writer is
critical of the proposed trifurcation of the state. Even the
Sangh Parivar has been talking on the same lines, jeopardising
the secular framework of the Indian polity.
Some of the
statements may need be qualified, but his assertion that the
people of Kashmir have been suffering because of bad governance
under Article 370 can hardly be questioned. The present
leadership has to learn lessons from history and take a decision
in the interest of the state and the nation as a whole.
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