Prime local political leadership that has all these years held the reins of governance in J&K has been /is professing that the Art 35A that is ‘taken’ added in constitution of India as a new article by a presidential order in 1954 is a very special provision for the Indian citizens living in J&K who could be categorised as Permanent Residents of J&K ( PR of J&K). If one goes by the claims of ‘such’ local political leadership one would hope that there might be also ‘very very’ special and beneficial local laws & provisions rules made / ordered in J&K making the living of Permanent Residents of J&K very –very special and better than the residents of Punjab, Haryana, UP, MP, Chennai, WB, HP and the like. But what to talk of better provisions the position on the ground has not been like that. Instead even some Permanent Residents of J&K are denied in J&K even the constitutional rights / better provisions, as are otherwise available even to the Indian citizens of other states, by the laws / provisions that have been made locally after independence. There are some local prevalent laws / rules in J&K that put to disadvantage even some classes of permanent residents of J&K like is the case of Female (woman) Permanent resident of J&K, the Displaced Permanent Residents of J&K ( erstwhile State Subjects of J&K) belonging to the areas occupied by Pakistan in 1947 and presently staying in other Indian states, the Schedule Tribe Permanent residents of J&K, the Schedule Caste Permanent Residents of J&K.

 

To quote the Woman Permanent Residents of J&K ( may she be a Muslim/Hindu/Kashmiri/ Dogra) have been in a way even denied their fundamental rights / human rights since they are “forced” by the so called “special local laws” under the cover of Art35A to chose their life partner only ‘from with in J&K’ since in case she wants /ventures to chose the bridegroom from Punjab or UP or Chennai her spouse / children will not have the rights granted under the Constitution of India while in J&K. Those who have been “boasting” of having obtained specials for the resident of J&K have not cared to correct such inhuman / discriminatory provisions even after that has been pointed out /such requests have been made at the local levels.. one would ask why ?

 

Like earlier years it was on 8th March 2019 that many in and outside legislature, those in superior positions in governments/ administration, those trumpeting of woman rights / gender equality, academicians, woman right organisations , ‘legal’ luminaries , social activists and ‘woman leaders’ were seen in the race for celebrating / observing Internal Women’s Day (IWD) raising slogans in the name of 'Nari Shakti' and issuing press releases but hardly any one even from with in J&K pointedly talked of violation of fundamental rights of the woman Permanent Resident of J&K on this IWD that was themed as “ Think equal, build smart, innovate for change” with pointed focus on innovative ways in which we can advance gender equality and the empowerment of women, particularly in the areas of social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure.

 

Not only the “woman”, the bads of the on date prevailing local laws / policies / deficiencies that enjoy immunity (under the cover of Art35A) from even constitutional scrutiny have continued putting to disadvantage even some Permanent Residents of J&K like (i) The Woman Permanent Residents under the prevailing gender discriminatory laws,(ii) Schedule Tribe Permanent Residents of J&K by not providing reservations in the J&K legislative Assembly like other Indian states (iii) The Schedule Caste Permanent Residents of J&K by denying them due adequate number of reserved seats in the legislative assembly & no timely rotation of reserved seats (iv) 5300 Families of 1947 Displaced State Subjects of J&K ( who legitimate PRs of J&K ) belonging to areas of Indian state of J&K that were occupied by Pakistan in 1947 who were named as “Displaced Persons from Pakistan occupied areas of J&K” (POJK DPs) vide order No. 1476-C of 1950 dated 16.12.1950 that was issued by Sheikh Mohd Abdullah ( the then PM of J&K) but have now in 2016, in a way, been disowned by local government & the policy has also been endorsed by GOI by not treating them as Displaced Persons from the areas of Indian State of J&K occupied by Pakistan in 1947 while providing even a small token one time settlement amount of just Rs.5.5 Lac/ family in lieu of properties left behind / socio-economic losses suffered over the years - < Even the half proposals sent by the then NC- Congress State Government under No. Rev /rehab/08/2011 dated 20-10-2014 have not be accepted by Government of India what to talk of any improvement. There is still time to correct the errors and make good the deficiencies atleast in the scheme / approvals conveyed by govt. of India on 22-12-2016 under Prime Minister’s Development Package for J&K 2015 – Central assistance for from POJK of 1947 and Chhamb displaced persons of 1965 and 1971 to J&K Government > (v) J&K Legislative Assembly passed THE CONSTITUTION OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR (TWENIY-NINTH AMENDMENT) ACT, 2002 (23rd April_ 2002) so to amend Section-47 (3) of J&K Constitution thereby putting practically a bar on fresh delimitation ( distribution) of single member segments in the Legislative Assembly till 2031 ( as and when the Census data after 2026 is published) thereby denying a representative of nearness to the Permanent Residents of J&K for many years to come since the revision for relocation of assembly segments could be done only by a delimitation commission (Even PDP-BJP Agenda for Alliance had in the chapter “Social & Humanitarian Initiatives” included constitution of a Delimitation Commission for the delimiting of Legislative Assembly Constituencies as required by law but no any action in any form was even initiated in more than three years of their governance ) (vi) in a way denying the Quality of Health Care & Medical Education to Permanent Residents of J&K since the existing rules do not allow appointment of non- Permanent Resident of J&K specialists/ qualified /experienced doctors in local government medical colleges / hospitals where state may be facing dearth of experienced teaching faculty / doctors even ( Jammu/ Srinagar MC / super specialty hospitals were already there as victims of local laws and now 5 new medical colleges – Kathua- Rajouri- Doda - Anantnag – Baramulla have added to the agony of local people where either inexperienced doctors are being appointed as professors or and retired local doctors are being reappointed fixing age of retirement as 70 yrs. (vii) J&K is not contributing a few medical seats from local medical colleges to common national pool thereby denying opportunity to the permanent residents of J&K to compete for thousands of seats of MD/MS at national level (viii) and the like .But no one even from amongst the Permanent Residents of J&K can approach a court even against such like rules/policies/laws/acts of the state since Art 35A provides constitutional cover to the State and so far the local governments / leadership has not bothered to take corrective measures even in the matters that concern the PRs of J&K inspite of requests / suggestions from the permanent residents of J&K / and even indirect suggestions from the courts

 

 

While laying down the definition for the Permanent Resident of J&K in Section-6 of J&K Constitution ( definition partly drawn from Notification No. 1-L/84 dated the twentieth April, 1927, read with State Notification No. 13/L dated the twenty seventh June, 1932 of Maharaja Hari Singh Government ) on 17 November 1956 ( Sections 1 to 8 and Section 158 became effective from this date whereas other sections w.e.f 26th Jan 1957) only those people who first qualified to be the Citizens of India interms constitution of India and had been Permanent Resident of J&K ( State Subject of Class- I,II and in a way even Class-III- who had been accorded rights as State Subject by Maharaja Government / State Government after 1911AD till 14 May 1954) and those who were still staying as ordinary residents of J&K after obtaining permission ( Izazatnama) from Maharaja Government having lawfully acquired immovable property in the State, since & prior to 14th May 1944 AD.

  

Accordingly, also the provisions / rules / laws for exclusive rights to the State Subjects of J&K as were there before 1947 regarding services under state government ( in the shape of like that in Section-127 of J&K Constitution - Transitional provisions public services ) & holding of immoveable properties in J&K {Section-158 –(2,3)- Repeal and saving of laws and rules} ; exclusive rights to Permanent Residents of J&K for voting in assembly elections & entering J&K Legislature ( Section -51 - Qualifications for membership of the Legislature; Section 140 of J&K Constitution – Elections to Legislative Assembly ) ; aids from the government were conferred on the permanent residents of J&K only..

 

No doubt Section-8 & Section-9 are also there to allow relaying of provisions / descriptions, whenever needed, in reference to the qualifications / special provisions / rights of Permanent Residents of J&K but so far no any use of Section-8 and Section-9 of J&K Constitution has been made to correct the wrongs and undo the injustice being done even to the Permanent Residents of J&K.

 

It is time to act carefully & judiciously setting aside regional & religious webs promising to vote in 2019 for those who keep on top of their ‘election manifesto’ pledge to remove or work to remove “Bad Specials” that are surviving under the shelter of Art35A atleast for Permanent Residents of J&K.