National Conference supremo Farooq Abdullah warned the Central government against any fiddling with the Article 35 A and said it would spark people’s uprising. He on August 7 chaired a meeting of all opposition parties including Congress and CPM. He said that the agitation would be bigger than the strong protest that gripped the Valley over Amarnath land row in 2008. This Article gives special privilege to the residents of J and K in matters related to employment and acquisition of immovable property.
The controversy surfaced because a Delhi-based NGO filed a petition in Supreme Court to delete the above Article because its character was unconstitutional. The Attorney General K K Venogopal appearing for the centre argued that the matter was sensitive and required a larger debate. He also requested a larger bench for the hearing of the case. Therefore a three-judge bench was constituted. It may also be noted here that in 2015 , the J and K High Court strongly defended this Article. While deciding the case, the Supreme Court may consider the verdict of the J and K High Court.
It is worth noting that Jammu and Kashmir joined Indian Union through Instrument of Accession singed by the ruler of the state Hari Singh in Octorber, 1947. Popular leader Sheik Abdullah became the representative of the ruler and negotiated with the first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru the political relationship of the state with the Union government. Then the Article 370 was included in the Indian constitution. Under this Article the power of Parliament to legislate laws for the J and K have been circumscribed. In due course, the Article 35 A was added to the constitution. These sequences of events cannot be ignored while taking any decision on Article 35
