Should Govt. Remove Article-370?

The constitutional relationship between the state of Jammu &Kashmir and the Indian Union has been the subject of numerous discussions many times. Also when in power, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said that the relationship between the Union and the State would be over if Article 370 of the Constitution is revoked.

Article 370 grants autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir hence giving them some extra powers as comparison to other states. Initially, Dr. B.R. Ambedbar was against this article but later on the then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah convinced him to write this article in constitution. Due to the Article 370, many of the provisions of the Constitution which are applicable to other states are not applicable to Jammu and Kashmir.

Important provisions under this article are as follows:

1. Except for Defence,foreign affairs and communications, all other laws passed by Indian Parliament needs to be passed by the state government of Jammu and Kashmir before they could be implemented in J&K. E.g. Right to Information(RTI) act is applicable in all Indian states except J&K.

2. People of J&K can have their own flag other than our Indian flag.

3. The order of Supreme Court are not applicable in J&K.

4. Due to Article 370, Indian Parliament cannot increase or decrease the borders of the state.

5. Non-citizens of J&K or Indian citizens from other states cannot buy any land or property in J&K.

6. The Central Government has no power to declare financial emergency in J&K because of Article 360 & Article 370. The emergency can only be declared in case of war or external aggression.

Some Pros of Article-370 includes that crime rate,pollution,traffic and population is less as compared to other states.

On the other hand cons includes, lack of medical facilities, slow progress of students due to less competition, lack of basic facilities like fast internet and 24-hours water supply, no or negligible industrial sector, lack of job and employment due to which the youth of J&K gets attracted towards terrorist groups to make some money.

Future aspect of Article 370:
Article 370 is among a very debated issue. After seeing the staus of Jammu and Kashmir other states can also ask for autonomous status. If Article 370 is revoked then the centre-state government can face difficulty in assimilation of Jammu and Kashmir in Indian federal structure and overall there will be a rise in another complex situation.