Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh is Northern most State of India. It was a Kingdom under Hari Singh who acceded with India on 27 October 1947. The Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950 but was not made instantly applicable of J&K. Rather a temporary article 372 provided that it could be applied in pieces by Presidential Orders. On 7th August 2019 the entire Constitution of India has been made applicable on J&K without any reservations.

Prior to this the Kashmir in India was nothing short of an Islamic Republic with the only thing missing, was Zazzia for local non-Muslims. However rest of the country pays Zazzia to it. The contribution of Kashmir to the GDP of the country could be around 1% but it gets 10% of the total aid granted to the states by New Delhi.

Elections and corruption:

The Election Commission of India had no jurisdiction and elections were rigged. Three sets of politicians were free to mint money at taxpayers’ cost. Anti Corruption laws were not permitted to be applied on the State.

Jawaharlal Nehru created an Islamic State within the Democratic State of India in 1954 i.e. seven years after the British had left and four years after the Constitution had been adopted by the entire country. How he did it? Why he did it?

Seperate Constitution:

JKL was only State in India to have its own Constitution, excluding Constitution of India.

Jawaharlal advised then President to issue a notification whereby an article 35A was inserted in the Constitution giving the State of Kashmir the power to admit ‘citizens’ of the State to exclusion of Govt. Of India. The result is that there are 1.5 million people in Jammu Region who are citizens of India but not citizens of J&K as they migrated from Pakistan to settle in Jammu.

In the state legislature, more seats were given to Kashmir Valley than the Jammu and Ladakh region put together. Result was that every single chief minister was a Sunni Muslim from the Kashmir Valley. Read about demography of JKL here.

Gender Discrimination:

Another discrimination was about children of Kashmiri women who married outside the state. They were denied the right to inherit and, by extension thus creating a, disincentivise for Kashmiri women to marry a man of their choice?

Citizenship:

The citizenship created another problem. A Kashmiri, as an Indian could contest elections from anywhere in India but not vice versa.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, who led Congress’s opposition to Article 370, last week, contested the Washim Lok Sabha seat from Maharashtra in 1980. Similarly another Kashmir ex Chief Minister, Late Mufti Mohammed Sayeed contested the 1996 Lok Sabha election from Katihar (Bihar).

Exodus of Hindus:

Further, the hell was let loose on Kashmiri Hindus in 1989-1991 when they were persecuted to leave Kashmir Valley. Half a million Hindu were forced to leave the Valley. All this was done at the instance of Pakistan and as a first step (jihad) to establish Nizam-e-Mustafa or Islamic Estate?

Watch this documentary about Exodus:

Irony is that some of the Kashmiri Hindus too wanted “independence” of Kashmir through “Special Status” which ultimately bit them the most.

Slavery:

Why would you shackle “valmikis” who were brought in 1957 (to work as sweepers) to a pernicious and abhorrent lifelong “untouchability”? There is a condition that if they take up any job other than scavenging, they lose there citizenship. It is a slavery, plain and simple.

Inhuman special status:

There is no cinema permitted in Valley. The sole cinema hall is lying closed for decades.

These perverse provisions under the ambit of Article 370 and Article 35A have been exalted in the Kashmiri imagination as a “special status”. In truth, Articles 370 and 35A can hardly qualify as the keystones of “insaniyat” or humanitarian in a modern democracy. More so when the Constitution of India would not permit these abohorant practices.

Islamic Republic:

To top of it all, now the demand by protesters is no more about ambiguous ‘azadi’ but is ubiquitous jihad for ‘caliphate’ or Islamic State with flags of ISIS. Does that leave any choice? Especially when ruling elite tacitly connive in it. This is why I call it Islamic State.

Therefore the removal of inhuman Constitution of Kashmir and replacing it with Constitution of India, integrating it with India, is the right and morally correct thing to do.

The fact that since it has been done, Pakistan is crying like a lost baby, makes this decision, even strategically right.

However to presume that it will stop the death toll which so far has been over 41000 dead, would be over optimistic. But now with police and law and order management vested in Central Government as J&K would be a Union Territory, it would be better equipped and would not be sabotaged by local government.

Soon I shall bust the muth around psycology behind special status or Milli Takhallus.

As to how BJP planned and executed this mammoth constitutional amendment, read here. It was a Chankaya moment.

A documentary depicting the history of Kashmir ‘problem’: