What
about Article 370 and the Homeland?
Article
370
by providing a special status to the State of
Jammu and Kashmir goes against the very spirit of
our constitution as it works against the unity in
diversity which the constitution swears to provide
and strengthen. Rather than bringing the State of
Jammu and Kashmir nearer to the main stream of
India it has widened the gulf and paved the way
for secession as the Article has been used to
bolster the argument of those elements who have
always questioned the accession of the State to
India and who refer to the existence of this
Article as an argument in favour of the unsettled
status of Jammu and Kashmir. The State has been
defending, protecting, enhancing and glorifying
the rights of the majority community at the cost
of the minority, especially the minority in the
valley. While in India the Constitution provides
special guarantees and privileges to the minority,
in the State the constitution has been contrived
in favour of the majority.
Once
the homeland is granted to the displaced Kashmiris
the continuance of the article and the special
status in the remaining portion of the
valley/State does not at all affect us, as we have
accepted the Constitution of India in full -
undiluted, unadulterated and unalloyed. The
Homeland will be a Union Territory and will be
governed by the provisions of Indian Constitution
and Article 370 will not be applicable in this
portion of Kashmir and will have no relevance.
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