Ladakh ‘understanding’ sparks fresh political row over J&K statehood

On August 5, 2019, the parliament had revoked Article 370 that guaranteed special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two UTs—J&K with legislature and Ladakh without legislature

Following Union ministry of home affair’s “in principle understanding” with two civil society groups on constitutional safeguards and restoration of democratic rights in Ladakh, the National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Congress have accused the BJP-led Centre of deliberately dragging the long-pending restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

A grave injustice was done to us all when our constitutional guarantees were snatched and then the state of J&K was divided into two UTs, president of J&K Pradesh Congress Committee Tariq Hamid Karra said. (File)

On August 5, 2019, the parliament had revoked Article 370 that guaranteed special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two UTs—J&K with legislature and Ladakh without legislature.

Nearly six years down the line, the Centre on Friday, during a meeting of the Ladakh bodies and high-powered committee, agreed on restoring democracy in Ladakh and providing constitutional safeguards on the lines of Nagaland, Sikkim and Mizoram under Article 371.

Though NC, Congress and PDP welcomed the decision in Ladakh, they accused the BJP of pushing the people of J&K to the wall.

The president of J&K Pradesh Congress Committee and former minister, Tariq Hamid Karra, said, “A grave injustice was done to us all when our constitutional guarantees were snatched and then the state of J&K was divided into two UTs . Within the parliament and outside, the Prime Minister and the Home Minster promised statehood at a proper time but there is no yardstick to that proper time”.

Karra recalled that at the time of SC verdict on Article 370, the apex court had ordered holding elections followed by restoration of statehood.

“I personally feel that BJP is delaying statehood because they want to implement all their nefarious designs in a phased manner, be it under the garb of security or legislations. If Ladakh can get the safeguards under Article 371 they can be restored to J&K as well. We are happy for Ladakh but the biased approach of the BJP is evident by the lopsided treatment to J&K,” he said.

NC MLA from Ramban, Arjun Singh Raju, said, “At the first place, the decision of downgrading a state into two UTs was itself wrong, which gets substantiated from the fact that Centre has to change it after five years. Every two months or six months, Centre is compelled to announce some new measures to Ladakh.”

Raju said that constitutional norms don’t get altered so easily. “In J&K, BJP promised statehood after elections. Two years have passed since elections but there is no sign of statehood. Somewhere there is some policy paralysis. Had NC not come to power, the BJP may have given statehood to us. Delaying it amounts to betrayal of people’s mandate,” he said.

Raju said that administration should work in accordance with the constitution and not on whims and fancies of a political party.

Former MLC and spokesperson of the PDP’s Firdous Tak said, “It is good that the people of Ladakh are finally seeing progress on demands they have struggled for over the years. But this also exposes BJP’s double standards. Special protections in the North East, Himachal and now Ladakh are never portrayed as threats to national integrity, while J&K special status was projected as something ‘unconstitutional and anti-national’,”

However, J&K BJP former president Ravinder Raina denying the allegations attributed the delay to intricate security scenario of J&K. “PM and HM have repeatedly assured statehood to J&K at an appropriate time but J&K is a sensitive border region, which has reeled under Pak sponsored terrorism in the past 30 to 40 years. We have seen how entire government machinery collapsed during peak militancy like in 2010 and post Burhan Wani’s killing. I feel that statehood is not merely a political issue and it has so many intricate security concerns to it,” he said.

Raina also rubbished claims of the opposition parties that statehood will be restored only after BJP came to power in J&K. “This is all propaganda by rival political parties,” he added.