On 6th August 2019, a new chapter was added in the indian history as Government of India revoked the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of indian constitution. Kashmir owes its origin to a legendary rishi called Rishi Kashyap after which the land was first called in ancient literature as Kashyapmar, which was later corrupted to become kashmir later.

After a series of incidents in the indian history when India got independent, Raja Hari Singh appeared to chart out his own way without acceding to India or Pakistan. He signed a stand still treaty with Pakistan, which later they breached and invaded Jammu and Kashmir in October 1947. India did not intervened till Hari Singh signed the instrument of accession with India and sought help from New Delhi. Hari Singh sought special privileges for his people which was later accepted by Jawaharlal Nehru Government and article 370 was inserted in our indian constitution as “temporary, transitional and special provision”. And that how the birth of article 370 was scripted.

Things gets very interesting when Article 370 clause (3) comes into the limelight. The clause which decided the fate of Jammu and Kashmir post 6th August 2019. According to Article 370 clause (3) “The President may, by public notification, declare that this article shall cease to be operative or shall be operative only with such exceptions from such date as he may specify”.

The story of revocation was scripted on the very own basis of Article 370. The bill of revocation of article 370 was passed in Rajya Sabha with 125 ( 67%) voted in it’s favour and on 6th August, the bill was passed in Lok Sabha with 370 (86%) votes in it’s favour.

Home minister Amit Shah introduced the Reorganization Bill in the Indian Parliament, seeking to divide the state into two union territories to be governed by a lieutenant governor and a unicameral legislature with Jammu and Kashmir having a legislature and Ladakh without a legislature. Moreover, both Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will share same high court and also the law and order of Jammu and Kashmir will now onwards be looked by the central government. With internet shutdown in the valley and hashtags of #Kashmirbleeds became top trends .

Many prominent lawyers like Harish Salve endorsed the decision of revocating Article 370. 2 It’s now time to weigh the pros and cons and check whether this revocation is legally sound ? And why in this revocation there is a lack of opinions and perspective of common kashmiris.


Pros

• Revocation of Article 370 will lead to economic development across Jammu and Kashmir, with investments and job flow it is expected that kashmir will now be on the lines of development.
• More jobs = Less terrorism, there is a very good percent of chance that more job opportunities will result in fall in the rate of terrorist activities.
• Kashmiris will now feel more integrated to India and will be benefitted from the indian laws such as Right to education.

Cons

• The revocation of Article 370 lacked opinion of common people living in Jammu and Kashmir and hence it can be said that those who were not willing to be part of India are forced.
• First President rule, then deployment of military troops and then followed by house arrest of political leaders, so the process of revocating Article 370 is questionable. But the counter argument of this statement usually given by the government is that if this was not done, there would have been blood shed and violence across entire Jammu and Kashmir.

Conclusion
After months of debates and discussions on internet shutdown on 10th January 2020, Supreme Court came up with the verdict that there is no provision of permanent internet shutdown in the valley and hence internet and other bans shall be lifted which was then later implemented by the central government and 2G services were activated. Supreme Court’s decision is considered huge victory for those struggling against abridgment of civil liberties.

Rightly said by the political scholars and thinkers that time is the most crucial ingredient in 3 these type of diplomatic decisions. With the passage of time things are expected to get better in Jammu and Kashmir. Just like the Ashok Chakra, we are wheeling to progress and with our national flag on Kashmir's soil, the nation hopes for it’s welfare and prosperity.
Written By Devansh Dixit