Article
370 explained simply and in detail.
This
article will clear you about the following questions:
·
What is Article 370?
·
What is its history and background?
·
What happened with it recently?
·
Why is it so popular nowadays?
So,
Let’s Begin!
BEGINNING FROM THE START…….
To understand exactly what article 370 is, we’ll have to go deep into the history of India as a country. As we know, India got independence from the British rule in 1947 and when India became independent, the province of Kashmir also became independent. At the time of independence, Raja Hari Singh was the ruler of Kashmir. He wished to keep his province independent forever. But, however, on 20th of October, 1947, the armies in Kashmir who supported Pakistan joined with the Pakistan military to attack Hari Singh’s empire.
As a result of this attack, a big portion of the province of Kashmir was annexed by these forces, while the rest was still under India. Hari Singh soon sensed after the attack that the on-going situations were hostile for him as well as the province of Kashmir. So, to save Kashmir from more attacks, he signed a treaty with the then Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, with permission of Sheikh Abdullah.
As per this treaty signed by Hari Singh, Jammu and Kashmir was now in an unstable relation with the Indian government. The announcement of signing this treaty by Hari Singh came as a huge relief for the people of Jammu & Kashmir.
Hence,
the treaty of “Instruments of Accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India” was
signed by Hari Singh.
According
to this negotiation made by Hari Singh, Kashmir now had granted permissions to
India for only 3 major issues:
·
DEFENCE
·
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
·
DISTANT COMMUNICATION
WHAT NEXT?
After signing of the treaty, the
Indian govt. promised that until the people of Kashmir themselves frame a
constitution for the province, any guidelines told in the Indian Constitution
for Kashmir would be considered as temporary. Hence, the government of India
will provide only the temporary
arrangements and no permanent or certain arrangements would be provided.
And so, the article 370 was added to
the Constitution of India with these very commitments.
Article 370 was implemented to power from November 17, 1952 with the objective of bringing peace and harmony to the state.
The article clearly states that Jammu
& Kashmir is a state of the Indian republic constitutionally. But, the
government of India has no rights to amend its name, geographical area and borders without the permission of the
government of Jammu & Kashmir.
Accordingly, leaving aside Defence,
External affairs and Communication, the Union government will have to take the
approval of the state government for implementing laws on issues other than
these.
It also states that the state pf Jammu and Kashmir has its own legitimate constitution and the state is run as per the guidelines of this very constitution.
Jammu and Kashmir has its own flag also and citizens outside.J&K do not have the rights to acquire property in the state.
Another notable statement from the
article, if a Kashmiri woman marries an
outsider Indian, her Kashmir citizenship will be discarded. But, if a Kashmiri woman marries a
Pakistani, her Kashmir citizenship will be intact. Moreover, the Pakistani
who marries the Kashmiri girl would be given the Indian citizenship.
Also, the article exempts the state
of Jammu and Kashmir from any financial emergency imposed by the Union
government.
WHAT HAPPENED RECENTLY?
In August,2019, the Modi government removed the article 370 from the Indian
constitution in a historic amendment. After the removal, Kashmir is now
considered an ordinary Indian state like any other. Was
Since the removal f the article, it
was expected that the conditions in Kashmir would improve and wouldn’t
deteriorate any further. But, conversely, what was remarked as a “masterstroke” at the time of its occurrence didn’t fulfil
the expectations of the government as well as of the citizens of the country.
We hope that the situations in the
state of Jammu & Kashmir improve soon and its citizens too enjoy all the
fundamental rights given by the the Indian constitution.
Thanks for reading.
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