Joe Shearer
PROFESSIONAL
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@Joe Shearer ; @xeuss ; @Crixus
I don't know much about internal arrangements and politics in Jammu & Kashmir. However, I do know that their autonomous status was enshrined in the constitution.
They were the only princely state that persisted in their efforts to frame their own constitution. A number of other states, mainly progressive, well-run ones, also started to do so, but abandoned their efforts mid-way, and decided simply to accept the Indian constitution. Kashmir, under Abdullah, persisted; although it took them time, they finally brought it out.
There was then the question of what to do about discrepancies between the Indian constitution and the J&K constitution. The Indian constitution was ready in 1950, and soon passed into law; the J&K constitution took several years more. So what was to have been done in case the Indian constitution said something and the J&K constitution flatly contradicted it?
From the INDIAN side, the constituent assembly brought in an article that said three things, essentially:
- No law passed in the Indian parliament AFTER the Indian constitution came into force would be law in the state of J&K until it was separately taken up, discussed, and passed into law valid in J&K;
- The J&K Constituent Assembly would recommend which Indian laws might be considered, as long as it existed;
- Once the J&K Constituent Assembly had finished its work, and the J&K Constitution was ready to be passed into law, the J&K Constituent Assembly would inform the Lok Sabha that it was done, and Art. 370 would then be removed.
If so, there must have been a very strong historical, cultural, political and strategic reason(s) for it.
Indian political leaders since 1947 (or even before) up till recently had a very deep understanding of the issues that could emanate from their actions.
Indeed, there was. One factor was the fear of the native of Kashmir of being swamped by everyone NOT a permanent resident. So they fished out an old statute of the Maharajas, intended to protect the rich jagirdars, the Dogras and a few Kashmir Pandits, and made a law of it, Art. 35A of the Indian constitution, restricting the ownership of property to permanent residents.
This was another law that the right wing hated. This, too, was abrogated by the instant solution experts, IGNORING THE FACT THAT SEVEN OTHER INDIAN STATES HAD IDENTICAL STIPULATIONS, including BJP strongholds.
Events since August 2019, as they have unfolded, are a testament to their acumen.
Ah, Sir, I never mocked you good people in your time of troubles. Your comment is perfectly correct, but stings.