The Indian Central Government has defended its decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution, which had conferred special status on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), in a fresh affidavit before the Supreme Court. The government stated that the region has witnessed unprecedented stability, progress, and peace since the abrogation, with stone pelting, strikes, and terror networks becoming a thing of the past.
The affidavit, which will be taken up by a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, highlights that the region has seen an era of peace, progress, and prosperity, with street violence, orchestrated by terrorists and secessionist networks, becoming a thing of the past. The government underscored that there have been no incidents of stone pelting since the abrogation of Article 370, and the casualty of security personnel has shown a 65.9% decline in 2022 compared to 2018.
The government’s affidavit states,
“Life has returned to normalcy in the region after three decades of turmoil. Schools, colleges … and other public institutions are functioning efficiently… in the last three years. The earlier practice of strikes, stone pelting and bandhs are a thing of the past now.”
The government also emphasized that central laws like the Right to Education Act and those providing reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are now applicable in J&K. The abrogation of the Article has led to the dismantling of the terror network, and the introduction of the three-tier panchayat Raj system with smooth elections to district development councils. Post abrogation, local languages like Kashmiri, Dogri, Urdu, and Hindi have also been added as official languages, fulfilling the demand of the people.
The affidavit further states,
“The abrogation of the Article has led to dismantling of the terror network, and introduction of the three tier panchayat Raj system with smooth elections to district development councils as well. Further, post abrogation, local languages like Kashmiri, Dogri, Urdu and Hindi have also been added as official languages, fulfilling the demand of the people.”
The government further stated that the region has seen an “unprecedented era of peace, progress, and prosperity” since the abrogation, with street violence and terrorism becoming a thing of the past. The number of organized stone-pelting incidents, which were as high as 1,767 in 2018, has come down to zero in 2023. The government also highlighted that the region has seen the highest ever footfall of tourists, with 1.88 crore tourists visiting Jammu and Kashmir in 2022 alone.
The government’s affidavit also highlights the positive impact of the constitutional changes, stating, “The earlier practice of daily hartals, strikes, stone pelting and bandhs are things of the past now. Participation in sporting activities is phenomenal having reached 60 lakhs in 2022-23. These facts clearly prove the positive impact of the constitutional changes effected in 2019.”
The Supreme Court will hear a batch of petitions challenging the decision to abrogate Article 370 that had given special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The petitions argue the constitutionality of abrogating the special status through the Presidential proclamation during President’s rule. The top court is expected to examine whether the legislature could have scrapped the Article without the consent of citizens in Jammu and Kashmir.
The government’s decision to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which split J-K into two Union territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh — were referred to a Constitution bench in 2019. The Centre contended that the “historic constitutional step” being challenged has brought unprecedented development, progress, security, and stability to the region.