State : No reservation in J&K until 1991?

Jammu & Kashmir did not have SC/ST reservations until 1991, thanks to Article 370 of Indian Constitution. This is despite the fact that 16 percent of the state’s population belongs to Schedule Tribe (ST) community. The present reservation is purely for education and employment. And still there is no reservation for OBCs in education and employment. These anomalies are guarded under the camouflage of Article 370 said Arun Kumar, All India Sah Samparka Pramukh of RSS, in a public programme in connection with the two day Lawyers Study Camp organised by Bharatiya Abhibhashaka Parishad, the Kerala chapter of Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad.

Arun Kumar, who is also the director of Jammu & Kashmir Study Centre, further said that the sole purpose Article 370 is dividing the people, this is neither a political or communal issue, but it is purely a legal matter. All documents highlight the legal stand that Kashmir is the integral part of India. Whatever Mountbatten or Nehru or Raja Hari Singh said or wrote are irrelevant to Article 370. There were several legal interventions and decisions before and after independence. That is why J & K became an integral part of India as soon as Raja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession and as a result partition of India came into existence hence there is no room for dispute regarding J & K status. Constitution of India says, in unambiguous terms, that “J & K is an integral part of India”. At the same time, Constitution of Pakistan does not say that J & K belongs to their country and it refers to their “established” provinces. That is why Pakistan remains handicapped when they intend to raise Kashmir issue in international forum.
He also pointed out the divisive nature of Article 370 is so powerful that people of other parts of India can’t buy land in Kashmir and settle there. A woman married to a man of some other Indian states loses the right to reside in J & K and the right can’t be transferred to her children. Still Right to Information Act and Right to Education Act are not applicable in J & K. So, the people of J & K say that they are not against Article 370, but Article 370 is against them. Till 1967, there was no direct election to Lok Sabha. In a nutshell, Article 370 undermines our Constitution, Presidency and national integration.                                                    – T. Satisan, Kochi