SC imprimatur on J&K will haunt other states
With this judgment, the gloves are off, and the government will not shy away from getting even with those regions where people reject their divisive ideology
The verdict is out, and we are not surprised. Stan Swamy, an octogenarian Jesuit priest suffering from Parkinson’s, died asking them for a straw, and Umar Khalid has been in jail for years despite observations of the courts about his innocence. Not to mention the thousands here in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) languishing in jails without even a trial. So, the decision on Article 370 wasn’t out of character.
The safeguards provided to us by the Constitution of India in the form of Article 370 to protect our unique identity have made J&K a prosperous state. In terms of key development indicators, it was ahead of many so-called model states. Article 370 was not just another legislation to be scrapped. Kashmir was always a stark contrast to the conditions in the rest of the country, where a majority of the poor live in sub-par conditions.
For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), J&K is a laboratory, and what was done to us will be carried out in every part of the country. The apex court’s ruling has not only put a stamp of approval on the unconstitutional act of the government but also gone against its previous judgments that Article 370 was no doubt a temporary provision but can’t be scrapped without the recommendation of the J&K assembly.
The Supreme Court (SC) verdict was a re-enactment of Union home minister Amit Shah’s speech in Parliament, justifying this unilateral act in 2019. It gives carte blanche (freedom) to a government with a brute majority to dismember the country according to its divisive agenda. One shudders to think if this can be done to a special state like J&K that acceded to India despite being a Muslim state, what will be the fate of other states, particularly those ruled by the Opposition?
The central government is already controlling states through their governors, who interfere in the functioning of the government. The central share of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) money is being either delayed or denied to them, along with the share of central assistance in welfare schemes, such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).
Again, with the Court’s go-ahead, agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have been empowered to their teeth, and their only job is to pull down dissent in any form, whether political or otherwise. The so-called temple of democracy, Parliament, too, has been weaponised to gag any kind of accountability. Two brazen examples are the expulsion of Rahul Gandhi and Mahua Moitra from Parliament. A section of the media, too, has been co-opted not to ask questions but to carry forward their agenda. The only hope left was our judiciary, which has watched silently and at times given impetus to the destruction of the federal structure of our democracy.
India’s beauty was in its diverse, and federal structure, and J&K stood out as an example of that diversity. We still have states like Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram that enjoy special powers where outsiders cannot buy land. Additionally, many states are enacting laws to reserve jobs for their state subjects.
This is not a novel idea. But today, J&K, with its religious, cultural, and ethnic diversity depicting the idea of India, has been reduced to an open-air prison. The only outreach happening with the people of Kashmir is through the ED, National Investigation Agency (NIA), Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Public Safety Act (PSA), and other government weaponry used against criminals.
By declaring Article 370 as a temporary measure and scrapping it, the BJP has strengthened the ideology of those who believe the accession of Jammu and Kashmir with India was temporary and its future is yet to be decided. The mainstream of J&K, which believed that the accession complemented our diversity instead of contradicting our identity as a Muslim-majority state, has been silenced. Today, every Muslim is second-guessing the accession: “Was our decision to choose secularism and democracy against religion correct?” The India we had chosen is changing fast into a religious majoritarian country.
It was former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s secular character, his personal relationship with Kashmir, and his efforts, along with Sheikh Abdullah’s endorsement, that brought Jammu and Kashmir into the fold of India. The situation changed vis-à-vis India only after the Hindu Mahasabha raised its voice against the special status and demanded its abrogation. “Ek samvidhan ek vidhan ek pradhan” became the slogan for communal forces in the country, who were taken aback by how Nehru could bring a Muslim-majority state into India. So, if any party is to be blamed for the sense of insecurity and instability in our relationship with the country, it is the Hindu Mahasabha, the mother of the BJP. Nehru acted like a statesman and committed himself to making it into a show window for the whole world to admire.
With this judgment, the gloves are off, and the government of India will not shy away from getting even with those regions where people reject their divisive ideology, thus destroying whatever is left of the federal structure. Many people all over the country celebrated the act of abrogation and the SC’s decision to uphold it. They are unaware that soon this goose is going to come home to roost.
Mehbooba Mufti is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. The views expressed are personal
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