JAMMU/SRINAGAR: Days ahead of a scheduled hearing of a batch of pleas related to the abrogation of Article 370 before a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, IAS officer and Principal petitioner Shah Faesal said the constitutional provision is a thing of the past and there is no going back.
National Conference leader and former chief minister hoped that the Supreme Court will expedite the hearings, but said that his party has no hopes from the BJP-led NDA government to restore the pre-August 2019 status of Jammu and Kashmir, even as the BJP president of Jammu and Kashmir Ravinder Raina said it was not wise to comment on the matter of Article 370 since it is currently sub judice.
Nearly four years after the government abrogated Article 370 that bestowed a special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud will take up a batch of pleas challenging the decision for hearing on July 11, for passing directions.
Principal petitioner and IAS officer Shah Faesal on Tuesday called Article 370 ‘a thing of the past’.
“(Article) 370, for many Kashmiris like me, is a thing of the past. Jhelum and Ganga have merged in the great Indian Ocean for good. There is no going back. There is only marching forward,” Faesal wrote on Twitter.
A 2010-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Faesal was detained for more than a year after the provisions of Article 370 were abrogated and the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into Union territories in August 2019. He resigned from service and launched the Jammu Kashmir People’s Movement, a political entity, in January 2019.
The government, however, did not accept his resignation and Faesal, who is also a doctor, was subsequently posted to the Union Ministry of Culture.
Faesal filed a petition in the Supreme Court in 2019, challenging the Centre’s decision to scrap Article 370. In April 2022, the government accepted Faesal’s application for withdrawing his resignation from service and reinstated him. The same month, Faesal filed an application in the court seeking the deletion of his name from the list of seven petitioners who had challenged the scrapping of Article 370.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Tuesday hoped that the Supreme Court will expedite the hearings in the petitions challenging the Centre’s decision to revoke Article 370 and reorganise the erstwhile state into two union territories.
“It is better late than never. We have been eagerly waiting for this day. Hearings would start on July 11 and we hope that they would be expedited as soon as this case is addressed in the Supreme Court and a verdict will come out,” Omar told reporters in Ganderbal, 25 kilometres from Srinagar.
The former chief minister said his party has no hopes from the BJP-led NDA government to restore the pre-August 2019 status of Jammu and Kashmir.
“We have been saying this from day one that whatever has been snatched from us on 5 August 2019, we shouldn’t have any hope from the present dispensation that they will bring that back to us. Our fight is long but in a peaceful manner and through democratic and constitutional ways. We want to get back whatever has been snatched from us,” he added.
Answering a question on the recent political developments in Maharashtra, Abdullah said it was unfortunate but nothing new.
“This is very unfortunate but not a new thing, we have been witnessing this for the last few years. Hardly any state has been left where they (BJP) have not tried to break opposition, more or less every party has been targeted. Whether Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Northeast, Karnataka everywhere … Even in Jammu and Kashmir, old parties have been targeted and broken to create new parties who are more close to BJP,” he said.
“Very unfortunate this is happening everywhere,” he added.
On IAS officer Shah Faesal’s comments on Article 370, Abdullah said he had a right to withdraw the petition.
“That is another thing what he has said after withdrawing the petition, no one has forced him to file a petition and no one from us is going to ask him that he cannot withdraw the petition. It was his right to withdraw, what more can be said on that,” he added.
Speaking on the status of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said BJP is not ready for polls as they are sure of their defeat.
“In J&K, the BJP is scared of holding elections. They don’t want to conduct elections as they are aware that they cannot even secure 10 seats. That is why they are troubling people. Election is our democratic right but we cannot claim it because BJP is not ready to contest elections,” he added.
Meanwhile, BJP president of Jammu and Kashmir Ravinder Raina on Tuesday said it was important to refrain from making comments on the matter of Article 370 since it is currently sub judice.
“The Supreme Court of India has announced to hear Article 370 from July 11th through a 5-judge bench. When a matter is sub judice, it is not right to make any kind of comments and statements,” Raina told reporters here.
The apex court decision will put an end to the “propaganda perpetuated by certain parties”, and “serve national interest”, Raina said.
“The decision that will emanate from the Supreme Court will serve the national interest and put an end to the political propaganda perpetuated by certain parties and factions. It is crucial to note that the court’s judgment will not be influenced by political statements but will be based on the merits of the case after thorough arguments and counter-arguments,” the J&K BJP chief said.
Raina also said when Article 370 was revoked (in 2019), deliberations took place in both houses of Parliament.
“When Article 370 was initially implemented, extensive deliberations took place in the Constituent Assembly.
Similarly, when it was eventually abrogated, detailed discussions were held in both houses of Parliament, resulting in amendments being carried out,” Raina said.
Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court’s recent announcement.
Azad highlighted the significance of the top court’s attention to these petitions, emphasising his optimism for a favourable outcome.
“After a long time, the Supreme Court has taken note of the petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370. I am hopeful about a positive outcome as I aspire for the restoration of full rights, which got annulled following the abrogation on August 5, 2019,” the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.
Azad further emphasised the inclusive nature of Article 370, saying it benefits the people of all regions in Jammu and Kashmir, irrespective of caste, creed or religion.
