New Delhi: A resolution moved by the National Conference-led government in Jammu and Kashmir seeking a dialogue for the “restoration of special status” and “constitutional guarantees” while avoiding specific mention of Article 370 provided leeway to the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to support it Wednesday.
While it fought the J&K elections as an ally of the NC, which promised the restoration of Article 370, the scrapped constitutional provision which granted special status to J&K, the Congress remained silent on the issue, committing itself to the reinstatement of statehood instead.
The NC’s decision to move a resolution on special status while leaving out Article 370 from its text is seen as part of a balancing act through which the party wants to avoid getting confrontational with the Centre right after assuming office, while also taking care not to let down its core constituency.
Congress’ Rajouri MLA Iftkhar Ahmed pointed out to ThePrint that since the resolution skips any explicit mention of Article 370, there was no reason for the party MLAs to not support it.
Mehraj Malik, the AAP’s lone MLA elected from Doda, presented a similar reasoning in defending his move. “Can the BJP guys even read? I will stand with any move that is in the interest of J&K and India. We should have rights over our land and jobs,” he told ThePrint.
Moved by J&K Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, the government resolution called upon the “Government of India to initiate dialogue with elected representatives of people of Jammu and Kashmir for restoration of special status, constitutional guarantees and to work out constitutional mechanisms for restoring these provisions”.
The J&K Assembly passed the resolution by voice vote amid uproar by the BJP members in the House.
“If you go through the statement, you will realise it does not mention Article 370 anywhere. Many other states from Maharashtra to Manipur enjoy special rights and protection over land and other resources under the Constitution of India. You even need permits to enter certain states in the Northeast. We are not even seeking that but merely fighting for our rights over our land and jobs,” Ahmed told ThePrint, referring to the special provisions under Article 371 (A-J).
He said, apart from Congress Legislature Party Leader Ghulam Ahmed Mir, the remaining five MLAs of the party supported the resolution. Mir, the Congress general secretary in-charge of Jharkhand who is busy campaigning in the poll-bound state, issued a statement, saying the party demands the restoration of statehood and constitutional guarantees “including protection of rights, land, jobs, resources, cultural identity” to J&K.
After the Centre had revoked the special status of J&K on 5 August 2019, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had in a resolution strongly criticised the Centre’s decision, saying, “Article 370 deserved to be honoured until it was amended strictly in accordance with the Constitution of India.” However, it stopped short of demanding its restoration.
In December 2023, after the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the Centre’s August 5, 2019 move of stripping J&K of its special status and its downgrading to a UT, the Congress said the “debate has ended” on the restoration of Article 370.
“Today, this debate has ended. You are forgetting one thing. The Congress is not a party in any way in these petitions that it will file any review petition (seeking judicial review). So, this decision is final and there has never been any such agenda or announcement of ours that we will reconsider it,” Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi had told a press conference.
Unlike the Congress, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal had supported the Centre’s moves on stripping J&K of its special status and its downgrading to a Union Territory. “We support the govt on its decisions on J&K. We hope this will bring peace and development in the state,” he had posted on ‘X’.
Meanwhile, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which also supported the resolution passed through voice vote, its president Mehbooba Mufti described it as a “half-hearted” effort which could have been written “in a better way”.
“We believe the language of this resolution could have been better.There is no condemnation of abrogation of Article 370 in this resolution.They (NC) talk about holding dialogue for restoration of the special status. What is the dialogue for? Do they have any doubt that what happened on August 5, 2019 was wrong? I would say it was a half-hearted effort,” the former J&K chief minister told reporters in Srinagar.
The BJP chimed in, saying that the J&K resolution “reflects a new approach by the ruling National Conference.”
“Interesting development in J&K Assembly. The resolution adopted today, reflects a new approach by the ruling National Conference. Instead of insisting on the full restoration of Article 370, the resolution calls for open dialogue on the issue—a significant shift, that acknowledges the new reality, post 5th Aug 2019,” BJP’s social media head Amit Malviya posted on ‘X’.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Why Article 370 abrogation won’t remove ‘disputed territory’ tag from J&K