Oppn in J&K has taken correct stand on Article 35-A: Soz

Srinagar, Aug 8:  Supporting the stand taken by the Opposition parties on Article 35-A, former union minister and senior Congress leader Prof Saifuddin Soz said the mainstream and separatists organisations are on the same page on this issue. “The J&K opposition Parties, led by former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah, have taken the correct stand on Article 35-A, which is being challenged by the RSS before the Supreme Court of India”, Prof Soz said in a statement here this afternoon. He said it means that the main stream parties in J&K and the Hurriyat Conference are on the same page, on this issue. He said in a way, the RSS has lent a helping hand to the political parties in J&K to forge unity on a very vital question for the future of Kashmir. There is another implication yielded by the RSS’ decision to move the Supreme Court on this question. The J&K chapter of the BJP is visibly facing an awkward situation of isolation on this issue, he said. He said in its narrow approach to Kashmir politics, the RSS has created a very difficult problem directly for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who could now ask the RSS to withdraw the case from the Supreme Court, before it is too late. Mr Modi could take notice particularly of one Constitutional situation involved in the whole issue. A well known scholar of the Constitution of India, Durga Das Basu, explaining the effect of Article-35A says, “A most prominent feature of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, as distinguished from the rest of India, is the provision for special treatment of the ‘permanent residents’ of Jammu and Kashmir.” That way, this Article is directly connected with the Article-370 of the Constitution of India. The trick that RSS wants to play by asking the Supreme Court of India to revoke Article-35 A, has the potential of creating a commotion in the country, especially, in Jammu and Kashmir", he said. UNI