Article 370 Revoked

Recuperation from A Cardinal Sin

- Waris Masih

Jammu and Kashmir region came to a standstill on 5th August 2019, when the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, introduced two pieces of legislations, one of which was perceived as a motion to abrogate Article 370. The other Bill was to bifurcate the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two regions: Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, with a legislature, and Union Territory of Ladakh, without a legislature. Article 370 was (as it has been rendered inoperative) a sui generis provision, which was inserted in the Constitution of India as a pre-condition to Kashmir’s accession into India. Jammu and Kashmir was a princely State ruled by its Maharaja Hari Singh. Hari Singh wanted the State of Jammu and Kashmir to remain independent and not get acceded by either India or Pakistan. But, when soon after independence, Pakistani guerrilla force attacked Kashmir, it was the Indian army which rose to the occasion and contained further escalation by the Pakistani guerrillas. However, Pakistani force captured a part of Kashmir, which is today known as PakistanOccupied-Kashmir (PoK). During this circumstance, instrument of accession, a formal document contemplating Kashmir’s accession to India, was prepared by India and signed by Hari Singh. The Instrument of Accession envisaged that the Parliament of India would be empowered to administer the State of Jammu and Kashmir only on three subjects namely defence, foreign affairs and communication. Representatives of Jammu and Kashmir requested in the Constituent Assembly that the Instrument of Accession should be given its true meaning by making necessary changes in the Indian Constitution. Henceforth, in the year 1954, Article 370 was infused in the Indian Constitution under the head of temporary provisions. The Constituent Assembly was dissolved without recommending the abrogation of Article 370 and thus it became a permanent feature of the Constitution. Article 370 accorded a special status to the State of Jammu and Kashmir an