The Need For The Removal Of Article 370

 Harshit Joshi mentions about the history of the inclusion of Article 370 in the Indian Constitution and subsequently comments upon the need for the removal of the same.

INTRODUCTION

Before starting with removal of Article 370, let us go to the historical background and have a brief look on what Article 370 is and the provisions under it.

The Article 370 of Indian constitution is a provision by the virtue of which the State Jammu and Kashmir has acquired a special status . It provides a fairly high degree of independence to the state, enables the state to have its own Constitution and it’s own national flag. The provisions of Article 238 shall not apply in relation to the State of Jammu and Kashmir; also Article 368 (which contains Amendment clauses) is applied to whole of india, except to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, unless applied by an order of President of india under Article 370. The provisions of Article 1 and of this Article shall apply in relation to that state and it also permits the state to give some special privileges to its “permanent residents”.

Article 370 was drafted by Shiekh Abdullah. He was appointed by Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Hari Singh, and Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru. At the time when the Constitution of India was being drafted, for all the laws apart from communication, foreign affairs, finance and defence, the Parliament of India depended upon the consensus of the State Government. Moreover, the Centre cannot declare financial emergency under Article 360 in the state, except for the situations like war or external violence.

In 1947, when Maharaja Hari Singh declared Jammu and Kashmir independent, Pakistan immediately launched a non – official war to free the region from Hindu rule, in which there were majority of Muslims. Soon after, Maharaja Hari Singh realised that he was unable to protect the state, when he asked Indian government for help. The Indian government was ready to aid but with the condition that Kashmir would acede to India. The Maharaja agreed upon the same and the Indian government and the Maharaja signed the accession treaty (“the Instrument”) on October 26, 1947.

The Clause 5 of the accession treaty stated that it could not be altered without the state’s consent. Clause 7 specifically protected the state’s right to ratify the application of any future constitution of India in its territory. It read as:

“Nothing in this Instrument shall be deemed to commit me in any way to acceptance of any future Constitution of India or fetter my discretion to enter into arrangements with the Government of India under any such future Constitution.”

 
REMOVAL OF ARTICLE 370 – THE IMPORTANCE

As the matter of point, Article 370 should be removed from Constitution of India , as Jammu and Kashmir is also a part of our country.

It also has many other cons as, because of Article 370, there are very less industries, which is directly related to employment. This means that because of this provision, people have to migrate to other states in search of jobs. Also it has become a terrorist prone region because of this Article. Due to Article 370, RTE, RTI, CAG and many Indian laws aren’t applicable in Kashmir which has a situation of corruption.

Some more reasons as to why the Article should be removed are :

1. The state, upon removal, will prosper economically and socially.
2. Social amalgamation will reduce the threat of militancy.
3. Kashmir could be one of the top tourist destination after complete development.
4. It will also prove to be good diplomacy to deal with Pakistan over territorial disputes.
5. It will politically give chance to all parties to rule the state and allow its development.

There could be many other minor or major advantages of abolishing Article 370 and give full course to J&K to prosper.

Thus, the Article 370 needs to be removed from the Constitution of India, so as to make Jammu and Kashmir as developed and prosperous as other states in India. That is also necessary to make the people of Jammu and Kashmir feel that they are no different from other citizens of the country, and to protect the minorities like kashmiri pandits.