Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek his help for Article 35 A and told him that the ''idea of India has to accommodate the idea of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Article 35 A of the Constitution, also called J&K state subject law, that bars outsiders from settling in the state, have been challenged in the Supreme Court on the contention that the law was not adopted by Parliament and should be struck down.
Mufti, who is heading the PDP-BJP ruling coalition in the state, has come under intense pressure over the issue as the Centre has told the Supreme Court that the petition against the law has raised sensitive questions and needs a larger debate.
This has given rise to fears in Kashmir that the BJP and the RSS want to remove the law to pave the way for demographic changes in the state to end the Kashmir crisis.
Mehbooba told reporters after her meeting with Modi that the basis of the agenda of alliance between the PDP and the BJP is to maintain a status quo on the special status of the state.
However, the opposition party, National Conference, attacked the chief minister and asked her to explain to the people what kind of assurance she got from the prime minister on the sensitive issue of Article 35A and the state's special status.
“Did the prime minister assure Mehbooba Mufti that the Central government no longer desires a `larger debate’ on Article 35 A's validity,'' asked NC spokesman Junaid Mattu. ''Did the prime minister assure Mehbooba Mufti that Government of India through the Attorney General would now file a written affidavit counter response to the PIL against Article 35A,” he asked.
Meanwhile, the separatists have threatened to launch another agitation in case the law was tinkered with.
“Pro-India parties are duty bound not to allow the scraping the Article 35 A. It is their responsibility to ensure that such designs are thwarted and resisted and the special status of the state is protected at all costs,'' said chairman of a faction of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. ''Otherwise people will hit the streets and the consequences of which will again be the sole responsibility of these parties.”
Under Article 35 A of the Constitution, Indian citizens other than the state subjects of Jammu and Kashmir, cannot acquire immovable property or have the voting rights in Jammu and Kashmir.
The J&K state subject has been challenged by Charu Wali Khanna, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir settled outside, on the grounds that the law has snatched away from her succession rights.
Mirwaiz said the article is being challenged with the view to alter the demography of the state by settling people from outside in the state.
He said it is being done under a deliberate plan and is part of the much flaunted `final solution’ to the Kashmir dispute.
Mirwaiz's remarks comes hours after Mehbooba claimed that prime minister assured her that 'agenda of alliance' (AoA) agreed upon between PDP and BJP should form the basis of any discussion on the state.
Calling the Article 370 as the basis of the constitutional relationship between the State and the Centre, Mehbooba told the prime minister the Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir rejected the two nation theory and acceded with India.
“The need and urge for protecting and respecting this special status also got amply reflected during my recent interactions with leaders of several political parties in the state,” she told the prime minister.
