Heena Sharma Blog

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday moved a resolution revoking Article 370 that grants special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir in the Rajya Sabha, amid a din as Opposition members protested the move. The government on Monday also moved a Bill proposing the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories -- the Jammu and Kashmir division and Ladakh. Home Minister Shah introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill. Making the announcement in the Rajya Sabha, Shah said that the UT in Ladakh would have no legislature, like Chandigarh, while the other UT of Jammu and Kashmir would have a legislature, like Delhi and Puducherry. There was an uproar in the Rajya Sabha after the resolution was moved by the Home Minister. Reactions poured in immediately, with former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti calling it "the darkest day in Indian democracy". Mufti tweeted that the "unilateral decision" of the Government of...

With speculation rife that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -led central government could abolish or try to amend Article 35A and article 370 , which give a special status to Jammu & Kashmir, there is a lot of confusion as to what these two statutes entail. Political parties on either side of the debate have voiced their opinion, with some calling tinkering with Article 35A “like setting powder keg on fire”, while others have supported the idea calling it a move to unify of the country. What is Article 35A? This provision of the Constitution allows the Jammu & Kashmir state Assembly to define who is and is not a “permanent resident” of the state. To further break it down, this provision of the Constitution gives the legislators from Jammu & Kashmir the exclusive power to determine as to which people in or outside the state will have special rights and privileges granted by the state. The provision, inserted through a special Presidential order in 1954, also gives...