Jammu & Kashmir: Opposition warns of dangerous fallout, decision expected to be challenged in Supreme Court  

The state of Jammu & Kashmir (L) has been bifurcated into two Union territories (R).

New Delhi: The opposition parties, on Monday, vehemently objected to the Centre’s decision to defang Article 370 and scrap 35A of the Constitution and making Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh two separate Union territories. Calling the moves as “cardinal blunder” and a “fatal legal error”, the opposition has warned the government for dangerous fallout.

The opposition led by the Congress party and supported by the Trinamool Congress, the Communist Party of India, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam condemned the sudden decision taken by the government and opposed the same in both Houses of Parliament.

The leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, while accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party government for eyeing on votes, said that the government has ended the existence of J&K.

Azad said, “I never thought that one day will come when my state which is India’s head … that head will be chopped off … It is not merely a head or a crown … It borders with Pakistan, China and PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir). We had to fight a war with China and three-four wars with Pakistan. While our Army protected our borders, the people of Jammu & Kashmir … J&K’s mainstream political parties stood with the Army and fought Pakistan and China.”

Similarly, former home minister P Chidambaram has condemned the move calling it as the “worst day” in the country’s constitutional history. While talking to reporters, he said, “We anticipated they will embark upon a misadventure. But even in our wildest dreams, we did not think they will take such a catastrophic step. What have they done? They have not simply got rid of Article 370. They have dismembered the state of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Former chief ministers of Jammu & Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah have criticized the government’s unilateral decision as illegal and unconstitutional. Mufti, in a tweet said: “Today marks the darkest day in Indian democracy. The decision of J&K leadership to reject the two-nation theory in 1947 and align with India has backfired … It will have catastrophic consequences for the subcontinent. GOI’s intentions are clear. They want the territory of J&K by terrorising its people. India has failed Kashmir in keeping its promises.”

On his part, Abdullah said, “Government of India (GOI)’s unilateral and shocking decisions today are a total betrayal of the trust that the people of Jammu & Kashmir had reposed in India when the state acceded to it in 1947. The decisions will have far-reaching and dangerous consequences. This is an aggression against people of the State as had been warned by an all-parties meeting in Srinagar yesterday.”

Both Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah have been kept under house arrest since Sunday midnight.

Decision on Article 370 expected to be challenged in Supreme Court 

The decisions taken by the government with a simple majority to dilute Article 370 of the Constitution that provides special status to J&K state and recognition of J&K and Ladakh as two separate Union Territories are expected to be challenged in the Supreme Court. Some constitutional experts believe that the Article 370 could dismissed only by a Constitution amendment bill with a two-thirds majority.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Vivek K Tankha has argued that the procedure adopted by the government is circumspect as J&K state has been govern by the president’s rule and there is no elected government. Former home minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram too objected to the scrapping of Article 370 without a constitutional amendment.

Union home minister Amit Shah, while responding to the objection, has assured that the issue had been examined and a simple majority was all that required. 

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