Article 370 - Kashmir, Kashmiri And Kashmiriyat.

As the pro agendas take a round, Article 370 still remains to be a disputable leitmotif for the BJP after its huge sweep in the Lok Sabha elections recently. Article 370 which was included in the Constitution on a temporary provision should have been gradually abrogated. This has not happened in sixty years!

Why do these governments fail to understand and often forget that J&K state is not a homogeneous entity that apart from Valley Muslims, Jammu has a predominantly Hindu population while Ladakh has a mix of Buddhist and Muslims. Then you have the Gujjars & Bakarwals. Why is Article 370 detrimental to the full integration of J&K state into Indian Union when for all its entail the valley depends on India. In fact whenever someone mentions this, vested interests raise an outcry that legitimate rights of Kashmiris are being trampled upon!

Article 370 was and is about providing space, in matters of governance, to the people of a State who felt deeply vulnerable about their identity and insecure about the future.

"Kashmir, unlike other princely states, was not yet ripe for integration. India had been at war with Pakistan over Jammu and Kashmir and while there was a ceasefire, the conditions were still “unusual and abnormal.” Part of the State’s territory was in the hands of “rebels and enemies." argued Gopalaswami Ayyangar when the question of discrimination was raised in the Constituent Assembly, there was hope that J&K would one day integrate like other States of the Union (hence the use of the term “temporary provisions” in the title of the Article), but this could happen only when there was real peace and only when the people of the State acquiesced to such an arrangement, well actually in the current scenario the situations will only be conducive enough if the article is obliteratred from the valley. It conveys a wrong signal not only to Kashmiris but also to the separatists, Pakistan and indeed the international community that J&K is still to become integral part of India, the sooner Article 370 is done away is better.

Parliamentary Resolution, 1994 states, Following increasing terrorist violence and Pakistan’s attempts to highlight the Kashmir dispute, both houses of the Indian Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution on February 22, 1994, emphasizing that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India, and that Pakistan must vacate parts of the State under its occupation.

J&K which was,is and will always be an integral part of India and that any attempts to separate it, supply weapons and funds, assistance in infiltration of trained militants including foreign mercenaries into Jammu and Kashmir with the avowed purpose of creating disorder disharmony and subversion, regards Pakistan’s anti-India campaign of calumny, and falsehood as unacceptable and deplorable and shall lead to ramification.

It is often not realized that Article 370 has played no less a part in preventing J&K from becoming an integral part of the Indian Union, creates gender bias and most importantly prevents unity of culture and heritage and discriminates people of a country with region.

KASHMIR, KASHMIRI AND KASHMIRIYAT disregarding their religion form an integral part of the Union of India and any attempts to disarticulate,India has the will and capacity to firmly counter all designs against its unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity.