It’s been a week and the matter is far from being settled. The uproar about the abrogation of Article 370 has been making the headlines since 6th August 2019 when the honourable President of India gave orders to integrate Kashmir with the Republic of India. There is clearly a divide among the people and their opinions about whether it was right, whether it was done in the right way, and whether the people of Jammu and Kashmir had a right to say in this integration. But, it is almost impossible to have an opinion without knowing the real truth about the history of Kashmir.
After India became independent, all the princely states, over 600, were given three choices to choose from – join India, join Pakistan or declare themselves an independent country. While most states agreed to join India, J&K decided to stay independent. However, there was frequent infiltration of people from Pakistan– tribals and those in plain clothes, who began stirring trouble in the state. This led to Maharaja Hari Singh to seek help from India and he decided to join the dominion of India through the Instrument of Accession or IoA. But, he had his own provisions and one of them was that this accession of no Constitution of India in the future can make a unilateral decision without the consulting the wishes of the people of J&K.
So, does this mean that the abrogation of Article 370 has wronged the people of J&K who wanted to stay as an independent state? Well, the answer is both Yes and No! J&K has its own constitution and Article 3 of its own constitution states that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. But, the people of the state are referred to as ‘permanent residents’ and not ‘citizens’ of India.
A temporary provision that article 370 was initially, existed as a permanent provision for 72 years. But, whether it is for the good or bad of the country and the people of J&K, we need to wait and see.
