Screening of a documentory and subsequent discussion underscored the human rights violations incurred due to #Article 35A
A documentary film, #Article 35A, on the controversial insertion in the Constitution relating to Jammu & Kashmir was released at the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML) on September 2. The screening was jointly organised by NMML and Jammu Kashmir Study Centre (JKSC).
Strongly advocating the removal of Article 35A from the Constitution of India, former Governor of Jammu & Kashmir Shri Jagmohan said: “They have created a land without
justice. The provisions introduced through the Constitutional Order of 1954 were done intentionally. It’s not as if the leaders, the parliamentarians didn’t know what they were doing… This law must go,” he said. “Mere legal things cannot solve the problems… problems will be solved only when there is a fundamental change of mindset within the nation,” he added. “The common people of Jammu Kashmir, the poor, no one is benefitting from Article 370 or Article 35A – whether they are Hindus or Muslims. It is only vested interests, the elite, who have been benefitting from these provisions. So-called ‘experts’ such as A G Noorani are misleading the people by advocating for Article 370,” he said, reiterating that it is high time for this law to go.
Senior advocate of Supreme Court and former Union Minister Jagdeep Dhankhar said Article 35A outrages every word of the Preamble of the Constitution. He remembered how he was also unaware of the existence of Article 35A and expressed gratitude to JKSC for its in-depth research on the subject. “Can President do what the Parliament cannot do? This is a very dangerous situation before us,” he said. This Article does not deserve to be on the statute book, he said requesting the media to study it seriously. This issue must be taken up as a campaign by the media so that public opinion is built to bring justice to the people of J&K, he emphasised.
Editor-in-Chief of Zee News Shri Sudhir Chaudhary said: “There’s a famous saying that ‘A lie can travel halfway round the world while the truth is putting on its shoes’. Unfortunately, the situation is similar in the media today.” He remembered how in the case of Yakub Memon, the Supreme Court conducted a hearing at midnight. He wondered how in this case when thousands and lakhs are being deprived of their rights it takes years for the court
process… “The narrative about Jammu & Kashmir is driven on the basis of the just 5-6 Districts of the State, whereas the rest of 17 districts are completely peaceful and
nationalist. Such narrative in the media is really painful,” he said. He expressed regret that the victims of 35A have not been given the right to decide their own destiny.
Articles 35A violates the rights of a large section of society residing in the State. The documentary takes through the lives of some of the resident groups, victims to the trauma and inequitable treatment created by the implementation of this Article. Three months in the making, the documentary travels through several Districts and remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir, unravelling the visceral realities of Article 35A and looks behind the hyperbolic politicisation and biased opinions on the issue. The documentary aims to synergise the discourse through an informed and rational dialogue on the issue.
Shri Kamakhya Narayan Singh, director of the documentary, recalled how he couldn’t believe his ears when he first heard of the existence of Article 35A. “My friends in JKSC first told me about this Article and how it was added to the Constitution without being passed in the Parliament. I went to legal experts and found that most of them were unaware of it. When I studied it further, I felt like doing something for this cause. This documentary is my contribution for the victims of Article 35A.”
JKSC chairman Shri Jawaharlal Kaul said Article 35A should be seen as a danger for the nation. “How can the President bring in laws by circumventing the powers of Parliament? If this is allowed, the future of the nation can never be secured,” he said.
–Organiser Bureau
