Separatists call off protests after SC defers hearing on pleas against Article 35A

Following a plea by the state government, the Supreme Court will now hear the petitions after Diwali.

Separatist leaders in Kashmir have suspended their five-day protest programme including the August 29 strike call after the Supreme Court accepted Jammu and Kashmir government’s plea to defer the hearing of petitions calling for scrapping of Article 35A .

A girl rides past closed shops during a shutdown in Srinagar on August 12. (HT File)

Following a plea by the state government, the Supreme Court will now hear the petitions after Diwali. A three-member bench was earlier scheduled to hear the case on August 29.

Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, in a joint statement, said they had announced a series of protest programs which will have continued till August 29.

“Now, because hearings in the Supreme Court have been postponed, the protest program has been postponed,” they said.

Article 35A of the Constitution allows the Jammu and Kashmir legislature to define the list of permanent residents and their special rights and privileges.

“Any intended tampering with the state subject law is a ploy to change the demography of Jammu and Kashmir and in this way, it is directly linked to our right of self-determination,” the separatists added.

The separatists said if and when need arises, a new protest program will be announced in this regard and “nefarious design to change the demography of Jammu Kashmir in the garb of 35 A will be resisted with passion and zeal”.