The Supreme Court is expected to take up next week the challenge to Article 35A of the Constitution amid growing indications that the Centre is considering changing its stand of aloofness from the bid to put an end to the provision which gives the Jammu & Kashmir government the rights to confer special privileges to those whom it defines as “permanent residents” of the state.
https://t.co/7mzQNzDS7h – Reposting an old debate where I explain why Article-35-A is not found in the main body of the Constitution & how it is legally enacted. In case you want to read only my argument here is the Facebook link –https://t.co/3icvUcNW3E
— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) February 24, 2019
Security forces kept on conducting nocturnal raids for the second consecutive day in Kashmir and people actively associated with the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), besides clerics, were detained from South and North Kashmir.
JeI, which is a part of separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (an umbrella organisation of separatists), in a statement condemning the crackdown on Saturday said the police and other forces launched mass arrest during the intervening night of 22-23 February and raided many houses and dozens of central and district level leaders were arrested. “The move is a well-designed conspiracy to pave way for further uncertainty in the region.”
Kashmir is in a panic mode because no one knows what’s happening. The valley is abuzz with the rumor that Modi govt is going to scrap Article 35A. My report from Srinagar. https://t.co/81BNKd8tOu
— Aarti Tikoo Singh (@AartiTikoo) February 24, 2019
The overnight raids on Saturday-Sunday saw choppers hovering over Srinagar for the second consecutive night and station house officers across Valley have been told to identify people who have links with Jamaat and Hurriyat and detain them.
The detentions and arrests come two days ahead of the likely hearing of Article 35A in Supreme Court on Monday (February 25). The provision included in the Indian Constitution in 1954 grants special rights and privileges to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The cat should have been killed in the first night but @narendramodi is, now, seemed to have realised that #sabkasaathsabkavikas & #Kashmiriyat is not enough to get him through.https://t.co/SELqEUmDWl
— Prasun Maitra(প্রসূন মৈত্র) (@prasunmaitra) February 24, 2019
Among those who were detained on Saturday include JeI chief Abdul Hamid Fayaz, Advocate Zahid Ali (spokesperson), Ghulam Qadir Lone (former secretary general), Abdur Rouf (Ameer, Zila Islamabad), Mudasir Ahmad (Ameer, Pahalgam Tehsil), Abdul Salam (Dialgam), Bakhtawar Ahmad (Dialgam), Mohammad Hayat (Tral), Bilal Ahmad (Chadoora), Ghulam Mohammad Dar (Chak Sangran) and dozens more.
