A few facts to clear up the misconceptions about jammu &kashmir and the article 370. All of these facts can be confirmed by wiki pedia or google in a clear and transparent manner. These have been formulated in a Q&A format for easy understanding. Q. Article 370 is responsible for jk being a backward state! A. False. India lists BIMARU states as those which are most underdeveloped , jk does not come in this list. In fact jk state is fairly prosperous despite militancy having hampered growth and not article 370. In fact any and every corporate hospital or company can invest freely , that too on subsidised land and incentives , but no one wants to risk such a huge investment in a politically unstable and militancy prone area. Militancy is the problem not article 370. Q. Because of article 370 , sharia law is implemented in the jk state? A. False. Except for Saudi Arabia , sharia law is not implemented anywhere in the world. 40 percent of jk population comprises of Hindus and Buddhists, and there is a uniform penal code, called Ranbir penal code which is followed. Q. Due to article 370 Hindus are discriminated? A. False. Jammu is called the city of temples with the highest per capita concentration of temples in the world including the famed shankaracharya, ragunath temples besides pilgrimages to the Shri amarmath and Shri mata vaishno Devi which draws millions of devotees every year who are welcomed and loved by the local population. Kashmir follows kashmiriat ( respect for all faiths)which even Shri Atal Bihari vajpayee respected . Q. Yes, but why should only jk be given special status ? A. In fact five states in India are currently enjoying special status within the Indian union. ( Google article 371). Out of these, Nagaland and Mizoram even need special timed permits to visit, whereas everyone is welcome anytime to Jammu and Kashmir. However some people only focus on jk and ignore others. Q. Isnt it true that because of article 370 Pakistani men can marry Kashmiri women and become citizens? A. No ,its a canard spread by the right wing propaganda machine. Pakistani people cannot enter the border of kashmir without risk of being shot. Pakistanis can only enter India through the wagah border at Amritsar. Q. But why does jk have two flags, isnt that anti national? A. The United States of America has a seperate flag for each of its fifty states with seperate laws, still its the greatest nation on earth, and no one calls anyone anti national. Q. This article 370 fans seperatism ? A. On the contrary it guarantees a close and unbreakable bond with the Indian union. Its only when the article was progressively weakened by the congress that discontent started brewing. Q. All these facts dont matter, do you think any other country except a soft state like India will tolerate this? A. Well, china is not considered a soft state, but it already has given total autonomy to Hong Kong , with seperate flag , constitution and seperate laws. Canada, England ,russia ,Australia all have territories and ethnic areas which have been given seperate special laws to protect their customs or culture. Q. If all this was true, why do only Muslims support the article 370. A. As a matter of fact, the article 370 was signed by the maharaja hari Singh and his prime minister Shiekh Abdullah with consultations with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and sardar Patel.the constitution was further ratified by sadre riyasat Karan Singh. Q. Yes but sardar Patel n dr Ambedkar were against it? A. If they had been against it, they wouldnt have signed it. Simple. These were the most powerful men in India, no one could force them to sign anything. They had reservations about certain sections and only when they were totally convinced did they sign and confirm the treaty. The question of them being against it does not arise. Again these are right wing propaganda to fool the people. Q. So wont jk join national mainstream if this article is revoked ? A. Jk is already part of national mainstream, more than 70 PC population voted in the elections. And had sent 6 mp to the parliament. Keeping or revoking the article has nothing to do with it. Q. Revoking article 370 will at least benefit the nationalist jammu people? A. The kashmir and Leh regions are not industrialized and depend on tourism. Its the jammu region alone which has a sizable business community, the abrogation of the state subject laws will wipe out the local jammu businessmen. Land prices will shoot up in jammu and local industries like KC etc will be eaten up by the big corporations. Kashmir and Leh will remain unaffected. Also if jk seats are opened to the national pool, soon jk students will suffer tremendously as only minority will be able to compete at a national level for the good seats and all seats back home will be taken up. Q. Dont the state subject laws have a communal tinge as they have been made by only Muslims ? A. As a matter of fact, the state subject laws were made exclusively for the protection of the local Hindu business from dominance from Pakistani punjabi business men before indeoence. The state subject laws have been made by Kashmiri pandit ministers. Interestingly jk is the first and only state of India,where cow slaughter is totally banned with imprisonment under law under the Ranbir penal code. Q. Why isnt RTI and Supreme Court applicable in jammu kashmir? A. Another lie spread to fool innocent Indians. Thousands of Kashmiris are working as RTI activists vigorously in the state. The high court judges are all appointed by the Supreme Court and every single order of the Supreme Court is followed to the letter everywhere. Q. Due to the article 370 jk contributes next to nothing to the Indian union and only takes away funds and grants from India ? A. The entire North Indian industries and houses are supples electricity from the northern grid which is fed by giant hydroelectric power plants of Jammu and Kashmir. Salal and uri civil.( please google it) The state of jk supplies power to the national capital as well, at nominal rates and cheaper than what other states provide. Q. Ok, Im convinced but why is a peon only paid 2500 in kashmir. isnt it unfair ? A. One more lie, jk state was among the first states to implement the sixth pay commission, a peon is paid handsomely. Yes non regular workers are not paid well, roughly 100 rs per day, but even that is higher than the national average. Q. So does this mean that article 370 is only meant for protection of the unique ethnic culture of the jk state? A. Article 370 guarantees that Kashmir always stays a part of the great country that India is. It acts as a bridge between the beautiful mountains of kashmir and the fertile plains of rest of India. It acts as a wall against evil intentions of china and Pakistan. It guarantees a respected place of jammu kashmir and Ladakh within the large heart of the Indian Union. It guarantees the people of Jammu and Kashmir moderate prosperity and at the same time a chance to be a part of the third largest economy in the world. It gives the people of jk a feeling that they are loved and India will always protect them and thats why at the time of partition despite being overwhelmingly Muslim , they shunned Muslim Pakistan and chose to join free and democratic India.
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 04:01:34 +0000