Mehbooba Mufti Says Jammu And Kashmir Political Class United In Defending Article 35(A), Identity

Days before the apex court is likely to hear a petition challenging Article 35 (A) in Jammu and Kashmir, chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has said when the people of the state had decided to accede to the country on the basis of shared ideals of democracy and tolerance, institutions such as Parliament responded positively to the thinking and the state  was accorded a special status within the country’s constitutional structure.

“And the judiciary, fully endorsing the spirit of this relation, put its foot down and upheld the special status when the matter of its scraping was brought before it”, she said addressing the Independence Day parade at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar on Tuesday.

She hoped in the future also these institutions would uphold this relation of mutual respect, cooperation and trust between the people of the state and rest of the country.

Mehbooba Mufti said the entire political class of the state was united in defending and preserving the special status of the state. She said recently she met leaders of all political parties in this regard and was happy to note that there was an overwhelming consensus on the issue.

Political parties, both mainstream and separatist, are concerned over a petition filed by an NGO, reportedly having roots in the RSS, seeking abrogation of Article 35(A). The petition was filed by Delhi-based NGO ‘We the Citizens’ in 2014 and it will come up for hearing later this month.

 Article 35(A) empowers Jammu and Kashmir legislature to define ‘permanent residents’ of the state and confer special rights and privileges on those.

Terming dialogue as the only way ahead to sort out issues, the chief minister said if peaceful negotiations can resolve all other issues in the country why can’t these help in redressing issues in Jammu and Kashmir. She said she was pleased to see external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj stating that dialogue is the only way ahead in resolving border disputes with China. 

She also hoped that Pakistan would understand the need for a peaceful engagement with India, and the central government would also undertake a broad based outreach treating the issues within the ambit of humanity as initiated by former prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. She said the agenda of the alliance of the present government has also declared that dialogue with all stakeholders in the State is the way forward.

 The chief minister had a word of advice for the parents as well. She appealed them to guide their wards to take up pens instead of stones and guns. “Let us ponder, how is it that the guns manufactured somewhere far off find their use in every Muslim society. Why should it happen? Why can’t our youngsters be put in productive, creative streams rather than in this confusion”, she said in her address.

She also welcomed the remark of Prime Minister Narendra Modi about Kashmir during his Independence Day address in which he said bullets and abuse (goli aur gaali) can't resolve the issues of Kashmir.

In a statement, the chief minister said she has all along believed that dialogue and peaceful means can only help resolve issues.  “The slogan, Bandook se na goli se/Baat banegi boli se (neither guns nor bullets, only dialogue can resolve the issue), coined by the PDP some 15 years ago, is as relevant today as it was then,” she said.