Jammu: Accusing PDP-led government of “intentionally” putting up a weak case before Supreme Court of India, opposition National Conference president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah on Monday claimed that the state will traverse back to the “unfortunate era of indignity, deprivation and oppression.”
“State government is putting up a weak case, perhaps intentionally so. The preliminary affidavit actually contained nearly 70 pages but the State Government didn’t allow this to be filed in the Apex Court and instead preferred a brief, token counter response which was worrisome and raised a red-flag on the role being played by the PDP-BJP combine,” said Omar while addressing a day-long convention of party’s district and block presidents of Jammu province at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan Jammu.
“All this is being done under an elaborate conspiracy to rob J&K of its Special Status and rights,” he said as he questioned the “professionalism and seriousness” of the response of the PDP-BJP alliance to the “serious and sensitive issue”. He said the State’s counter affidavit has been condensed to just eleven pages, which speaks of the seriousness accorded to it.
The affidavit, he said, for some odd reasons is reported to be without any substance or any depth.
He also urged the people to unite in fighting what he termed as conspiracy to trample the constitutional guarantees available to the State.
Omar also assailed the BJP for trying to engineer a regional divide in Jammu and Kashmir over Article 35A, saying if the “so-called” assurance given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was true why a counter affidavit hadn’t been presented before the Supreme Court of India by the Government of India to defend Article 35-A.
“Instead of defending this Article, the Attorney General pitched for a larger debate on Article 35A”, Omar said and questioned why GoI was not formally defending Article 35A in the Supreme Court as per the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and as a custodian of the Constitution of India.
“If Article 35A is repealed, we will traverse back to the unfortunate era of indignity, deprivation and oppression where Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammed Abdulah had steered out the people of the State,” he said and lauded the farsightedness of Maharaja Hari Singh in bringing the State Subject Laws into effect in 1927.
He said the Maharaja had brought these laws into effect to save the interests of those locals holding land and finding representation in the state administration as there were apprehensions of non-state subjects usurping the locals.
He said the laws enacted 90 years ago have withstood the test of time in preserving the identity of the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh besides preserving their legitimate rights.
Omar also questioned the intention of the BJP and said whenever the situation turns against their anti-J&K strategies they come up with ‘sinister” new agendas.
He expressed surprise over singling out of Jammu and Kashmir in respect of the special provisions related to State Subject Laws, notwithstanding the fact that several other states like Himachal Pradesh, North Eastern States, Lakshadweep etc were having almost similar laws regarding ownership of land and definition of domicile regulations.
He also accused the BJP of being hell-bent to trample the special status of J&K for a long time, “which was incidentally their election plank in 2014.”
“But once they came to power, BJP realized that their designs cannot be achieved politically and therefore a short cut of proxy judicial activism through various affiliated NGOs has been initiated by clandestinely challenging the Article 35A through a ‘Mukhota”, he added.
Referring to the designs of the BJP in attacking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Omar Abdullah made a mention of the recent implementation of GST, and said this act too had deprived the State of its right to impose taxes. “We have now seen with distress our Chief Minister rushing to the Centre to seek tax concessions for various crucial sectors for the State such as horticulture and tourism with the GST Council in turn paying little attention”, he added.
Cautioning the people about the consequences of repealing Article 35A, Omar said Jammu will be worst hit before such repercussions are felt in the Valley.
“Not only will jobs squeeze for local youth but our business sector too shall suffer tremors with influx of traders from outside the State,” he said, adding that the local land owners will be deprived of their holdings.
“Whosoever intends to turn up in Jammu and Kashmir and push local businesses out of competition will find the Jammu region feasible because of its close proximity to the neighbouring states apart from the relatively more conducive security scenario”, he said and urged the people of Jammu to guard the State and their own interests against these sinister machinations of abrogating the Article.
“In case the Article 35A is scrapped, it will cause enormous and irrevocable damage to the interests of the people of the three regions, irrespective of their caste and religion,” he said and urged the party cadre to generate awareness among the people about the adverse consequences of the abrogation of Article 35A.
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