All About Article 370?

Article 370 constitutes the list of one of the most heated political controversies. If we need to understand the entire political satire and scenario behind Article 370 then we must have an insight into the context of federalism.

India is a “holding together federation” where the power is being divided among a central government and other non-subordinate state government. If we look deep in the history of other such federations then one common thing will catch our eye. The fact remains that usually in a holding together federation, the constituent units have unequal powers and some of the states have even special powers. So this can be partially called “Unitary biased” federation. In India, too many states of the Indian Union enjoy a special status.

One such state was that of Jammu and Kashmir which enjoyed a special status under ARTICLE 370. ARTICLE 370 was earlier a part of INDIAN CONSTITUTION. To keep it simple and easy, it gave extraordinary political status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Under this act, many provisions of the Indian constitution were not applicable to the state without the approval of the state’s legislative assembly. Even the Indian citizens who were not permanent residents of the state were not allowed to buy or own property in the state.

This article, along with Article 35A, defined that the Jammu and Kashmir state's residents live under a separate set of laws, including those related to citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as compared to residents of other Indian states. On 5 August 2019, the Government of India issued a constitutional order superseding the 1954 order, and making all the provisions of the Indian constitution applicable to Jammu and Kashmir based on the resolution passed in both houses of India's parliament with 2/3 majority.

On 6 August the Government of India declared all the clauses of Article 370 except clause 1 to be inoperative. This is a game-changer in the political course of India. But the debate still continues, while some say that the act was perfectly suited to the social needs of Kashmiri people, on the other hand, another group of people says that this act served as a backup for terrorist activities in the state and this act only slowed down the integration of the Kashmiri people.

The issue is subject to Governmental policies and laws but still, the issue occupies a prime location in the context of top-level political controversies.

By: Lakshay Rajput

School: Gyan Mandir Public School

Class: 10th