Article 370 revoked; Ladakh, J&K to be Union Territories

[caption id="attachment_264233" align="aligncenter" width="600"] ARTICLE 370:PTI GRAPHICS[/caption]   New Delhi, Aug. 5 (PTI): The government on Monday abolished Article 370 that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir; and moved a separate bill to bifurcate the state into two separate union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Home Minister Amit Shah moved the resolution on Article 370 as also the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill 2019 amid massive uproar by opposition parties. He informed the House that President Ram Nath Kovind has signed the official notification abrogating Article 370. As soon as Shah made the announcement, members of Congress, TMC and DMK squat on the floor of the House, one of the PDP members tore his clothes and then along with another PDP member tore copies of the Constitution, prompting Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to order that they be physically removed. Shah, who received a standing ovation from his party colleagues when he entered the House minutes before proceedings in the Rajya Sabha commenced, termed the move as "historical", saying Article 370 has not allowed integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the country. When the House met, Naidu said he had used his discretionary powers to waive the requirement of the government to give advance notice and circulate a bill as the issue was of urgent national importance. Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the entire Kashmir Valley is under curfew and three former chief ministers of the state and political leaders have been placed under house arrest. He wanted the situation to be discussed first but Naidu allowed Shah to move the resolution. Shah moved the resolution to abolish Article 370 as well as the state reorganisation bill along with listed bills to extend reservation for economically weaker sections in educational institutions and government jobs in Jammu and Kashmir. The reorganisation bill provides for formation of union territory of Ladakh without legislature and a separate one for Jammu and Kashmir with legislature. While Naidu said only the bill for providing reservation is being moved now and the other would be done after it is circulated to members, the House in a voice vote approved the introduction. Later Naidu allowed Shah to re-introduce the resolution and the reorganisation bill, saying copies have now been circulated to members. But it was not put to vote and it was not immediately clear if the voice vote taken earlier was for all bills and resolution or only for the bill for reservation. Shah had moved the resolution and the bills together. But the introduction was opposed by Congress, TMC and DMK members who along with leaders in the House rushed into the well, They first shouted slogans and then squatted in the well of the House. Those who squat on the floor included Azad, Congress deputy leader Anand Sharma and TMC leader Derek O'Brien. Samajwadi Party (SP) members, however, did not join them in the well. Amid the ruckus, PDP members Nazir Ahmad Laway and Mir Mohammad Fayaz shouted slogans and tore posters. Laway even tore the 'kurta' he was wearing. Later as the protests heated up, the duo tore copies of the Constitution, prompting Naidu to order their eviction. Azad said the opposition was not against the reservation bill but wanted the Kashmir situation to be discussed first. While the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said the government was "rectifying" the historical blunder of imposing Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said there were enough empirical evidence and precedence where the governments have in past circulated and got approved bills on the same day. Noting that in past 38 times bills have been circulated and passed on the same day, he said this will be "null and void" after the resolution for abolition of Article 370 is approved. Vaiko said the government was killing democracy. "Emergency days have come back," he said. Azad said Article 370 was integral to Jammu and Kashmir joining India and added that lakhs of security personnel and civilians have lost their lives in the state during 70 years. "I strongly condemn the act of two or three members of Parliament (to tear copies of Constitution), none were from our party. We stand by the Constitution of India," he said. He, however, said the BJP has murdered democracy. Shah retorted that people of Jammu and Kashmir were living in poverty and corruption because of Article 370. Three families have looted the state for years, he said adding Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India on October 27, 1947 but Article 370 came in 1949. "It is not true that Jammu and Kashmir joined India because of Article 370," he said. Article 370 was always temporary and past governments did not remove it because of lack of political will and vote bank politics, he said. Article 370 of the Constitution granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir whereby provisions of the Constitution which are applicable to other states are not applicable to J&K. As per this article, except for defence, foreign affairs, finance and communications, Parliament needs the state government's concurrence for applying all other laws. It was introduced in the Constitution on October 17, 1949.   No separate Constitution, flag; assembly to be of 5 yrs With the abrogation of Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir will now have no separate flag or Constitution and the tenure of the assembly will be for a period of five years like any other state and two union territories in the country, officials said on Monday. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) will replace the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) to deal with criminal matters and Article 356, under which President's rule can be imposed in any state, will also be applicable in union territories (UTs) Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh with the unprecedented decision of the Centre. There will be no separate flag of Jammu and Kashmir and the tricolour will be the only national flag for the entire country, a Home Ministry official said. There will be no separate Constitution for Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Constitution will govern the two union territories to be created. The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will have a tenure of five years like all the states and UTs of Delhi and Puducherry. Till now, the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly had a tenure of six years. So far, incase of failure of functioning of the state government, Governor's rule was imposed by invoking Section 92 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir for a period of six months and was further extendable by imposing President's rule, another official said. With the revocation of Article 370, Article 356 can be invoked and President's rule can be imposed right way incase of need. The government can also invoke Article 360 in the two UTs to declare financial emergency if need arises. Henceforth, people from other states will be eligible to purchase land and properties and the Right to Information (RTI) Act will be applicable to the new UTs to be created, the official said. The government on Monday revoked Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and proposed that the state be bifurcated into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. (Related news in page 8)