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| Why confusion over status of J&K vis-à-vis India | | Setting record straight | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Nov 15: In August 1947, almost all the 560-odd princely States, which were not part of the partition plan, acceded to the Indian Dominion as per the constitutional law on the subject. However, in Jammu & Kashmir and outside it there are elements who make controversial statements which create confusion in the minds of the people.
A reference here to a few statements made by persons holding responsible position in the Government would in order to clear the misunderstanding and established that New Delhi more than Pakistan and separatists in Kashmir is responsible for creating uncertainty in the minds of the people over the status of Jammu & Kashmir.
1. "We are prepared to redraw the political map of India if that could resolve the Kashmir problem". Former Foreign Minister K Natwar Singh made this unsettling statement during an interview to the BBC immediately after the formation of the Congress-led UPA Government on May 21, 2004.
2. "We have decided to reward the moderate militants". Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, presently Governor of Punjab, made this statement in the first week of June 2004 during his interview to the BBC.
3. "We are prepared to consider the demand for the withdrawal of the Army from the State if it could prove a confidence-building measure". Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made this statement in April 2005.
4. We are prepared to consider the demand of "pre-1953" (read a step short of complete independence). "There is the need to evolve a broad consensus on the issues of autonomy and self-rule within the vast flexibilities provided by the Indian Constitution," said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on February 25, 2006 at his official residence, 7 Race Course Road, while concluding the first roundtable conference.
5. There should be India-Pakistan "joint control over the State waters, power projects, agriculture, sericulture, horticulture, forestry and environment". This unsettling statement was made by Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad (presently leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha) in the University of Jammu on March 29, 2006, a day after the then Jammu & Kashmir Governor Lt Gen SK Sinha bemoaned (in the same University) that the Government of India had virtually stopped calling Jammu & Kashmir an integral part of India.
6. "Jammu & Kashmir is not a bilateral issue. It is a trilateral issue. There has to be Srinagar-Islamabad axis, Srinagar-Delhi axis and New Delhi and Islamabad". Former Union Minister for Water Resources Saif-ud-Din Soz made this statement not once but a number of times in 2006, and even thereafter.
7. "Kashmir has a unique history and unique geography, Kashmir problem is unique that needs a unique solution and solutions which are applicable to other States of the Union cannot be replicated in Kashmir". Former Union Home Minister and Finance Minister Mr. P Chidambaram made this statement in Srinagar in 2010.
8. And the PDP-BJP agenda of Alliance says that efforts would be made to involve Pakistan and Hurriyat in a dialogue process to resolve all the "political issues" as if Jammu & Kashmir is a disputed territory between India, Pakistan and Kashmiri separatists.
These and many other similar statements made by various persons holding constitutional positions and otherwise have alarmed the people of nationalists people of the State in general and people of Jammu and Ladakh, besides internally-displaced Kashmiri Hindus, in particular. .
What is the constitutional position of J&K? Article 1 of the Indian Constitution says Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India; it figures at number 15 in the list of Indian states. Article 1 is part of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution and it cannot be altered even by the Indian Parliament, the highest law-making body in the country. As for the Jammu & Kashmir Constitution, its section 3, which is also part of the basic structure of the constitution, says in unequivocal terms that the State of Jammu & Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of India.
But more than that, section 147 of the Jammu & Kashmir Constitution unambiguously says that "no Bill or amendment seeking to make any change in - (a) this section (read section 147 that deals power to amend the Constitution); or (b) the provisions of section 3 and; or (c) the provisions of the Constitution of India as applicable, in relation to the State, shall be introduced or moved in either House of the Legislature".
Not just this. We have three unanimous parliamentary resolutions of February 22, 1994 and March 15 and August 14, 2013. All three resolutions say the same thing: "The entire State of Jammu & Kashmir, including the territories under the illegal occupation of Pakistan, is an integral part of India". Even those who demand greater autonomy or those who say in and outside the Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly that the State only acceded and did not merge with India are party to the parliamentary resolutions of March 15 and August 14, 2013. |
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