Jammu is BURNING But Does It Bother Anyone?

As India has been living with "Terror" since long long time. Ask anyone who lives in Srinagar! But the whole concept of India being without it's proud "head" (see India's Map) is inconceivable and impossible. So why can't any Indian go ahead and settle down as a citizen of the state of Jammu & Kashmir? Because of the much discussed Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. The Article 370 says that only naturalized citizens of the state of J&K can purchase a piece of land in the state.

You can read the Article 370 here:
http://www.kashmir-information.com/LegalDocs/Article370.html

Or here I share it :
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ARTICLE 370 OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION

Temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir

(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution,

(a) the provisions of article 238 shall not apply in relation to the State of Jammu and Kashmir;

(b) the power of Parliament to make laws for the said State shall be limited to,

(i) those matters in the Union List and the Concurrent List which, in consultation with the Govermnent of the State are declared by the President to correspond to matters specified in the Instrument of Accession governing the accession of the State to the Dominion of India as the matters with respect to which the Dominion Legislature may make laws far that State; and

(ii) such other matters in the said Lists as, with the concurrence of the Government of the State, the President may by order specify.

Explanation For the purposes of this article, the Govermnent of the State means the person for the time being recognised by the President as the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers for the time being in office under the Maharaja's Proclamation dated the fifth day of March. 1948;

(c) the provisions of article 1 and of this article shall apply in relation to that State;

(d) such of the other provisions of this Constitution shall apply in relation to that State subject to such exceptions and modifications as the President may by order specify:

Provided that no such order which relates to the matters specified in the Instrument of Accession of the State referred to in paragraph (i) of sub-clause (b) shall be issued except in consultation with the Government of the State:

Provided further that no such order which relates to matters other than those referred in the last preceding proviso shall be issued except with the concurrence of that Government.

(2) If the concurrence of the Government of the State referred to in paragraph (ii) of sub-clause (b) of clause (1) or in the second proviso to sub-clause (d) of that clause be given before the Constituent Assembly for the purpose of framing the Constitution of the State is convened, it shall be placed before such Assembly for such decision as it may take thereon.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this article, the President may. by public notification, declare that this article shall cease to be operative or shall be operative only with such exceptions and modifications and from such date as he may specify:

Provided that the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State referred to in clause (2) shall be necessary before the President issues such a notification.

In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 370 the Prseident, on the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, declared that as from the 17th Day of November, 1952, the said Article 370 shall be operative with the modification that for the Explanation in Cl. (1) thereof, the following explanation is substituted namely.

"Explanation - For the purpose of this article, the Government of the State means the person for the time being recognized by the President on the recommendation of the Legislative Assembly of the State as the Sadr-i-Riyasat (now Governor) of Jammu and Kashmir, acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers of the State for the time being in office."

(Ministry of Law order No. C. O. dated 15th Nov. 1952.)

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The article here also stands out linking the neighbouring Pakistan controlled Kashmir (POK) and other parts:
http://www.cifjkindia.org/art370/art370_000.shtml

Here is another point of view from a political perspective:
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1719/17190890.htm

Here is a legal perspective and an interesting one:
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=239&page=28

Two very interesting answers in the Indian Parliament decades ago:

Pandit Nehru spoke in the Lok Sabha
(in response to a pointed question by Atal Bihari Vajapayee in February 1964) -

"Article 370 will get eroded in due course and vanish ultimately....".

Mohammadalli Currim Chagla, in the Rajya Sabha

- "The prime minister the other day spoke of gradual erosion of Article 370. I hope that this erosion is accelerated and I also hope that very soon that article will disappear from the constitution. After all it is transitional and temporary. I think transitional period has been long enough!"

Jammu & Kashmir has always been and shall always be an integral part of India it is really sad to know that a handful of misguided people in Kashmir are playing a "game" which shall leave them nowhere and this has been shown at different times and places across the state of J&K.

Coming back to the current topic of the LAND WAR which wages still at Jammu which has Kashmiri Pundits as majority, the curfew has been lifted from the city but the BANDH called by the Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti, which is against the recall of the transfer of land to the Shree Amarnath Shrine Board which is headed by the Governor of J&K.

But what happened?

A very interesting insight - I admired it hopefully shall you:
http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2008/jul/06/amarnath_shrine_land_transfer_dispute_how_much_congress_responsible.html

As we have always got what we have from The Indian Express I give you a link which gives us a complete 360 degrees perspective on the Amarnath Pilgrimage and the politics:
http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/328693._.html

The Congress(I) had been in power in a coalition Government in the state of J&K with Ghulam Nabi Azad being at it's helm as the Chief Minister.

But this issue which has suddenly snowballed into a major political battle amongst the different parties in J&K as the assembly elections are around the corner.

It was in March 2005 that the "said" forest land was transferred to the Shree Amarnath Shrine Board, the Board which was formed by the J&K State Legislative Assembly with the J&K Governor as it's Chairman and the Principal Secretary would be it's CEO.

And after four years of controversies around the transfer, on June 2nd, 2008 the Governor's demands was acceded to and the 39.88 hectares of land was given to the Shree Amarnath Shrine Board.

But this became a huge political drama and it also went violent and crippled the J&K state and it disturbed the already hapless and hugely poor people of the state.

Before the withdrawal of the said Transfer of Land to SASB Srinagar went onto agitate and now when they have stopped Jammu is burning!

BUT

How many of us Indians are willing to share the feelings of the people of Jammu and come together and support them?

Do they feel left out?

Do the people behind the Sangharsh Samiti think they have the unconditional support of people outside the state of J&K?

Well I think there should be a permanent transfer of the said land so that there can be a peaceful co-existence of all and also it shall bring about a sustained development of this area while bringing the much needed infrastructural support for the millions of pilgrims and in turn it would also bring about more people to the area.