Is article 370 a curse for Jammu and Kashmir?

Srinagar: Not everything is alright with the valley since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opted out of the alliance and Mehbooba Mufti resigned as the Chief Minister...

But what is being considered as the real problem by some people is the imposition of Article 370 in the state.

What happened recently is that Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra, who had called an all party meet to seek opinion of political representatives on the governance of the state, was apprised of their views by representatives of all political parties in the state.

The National Conference and other parties including Panthers Party including other parties and the National Conference favored an immediate dissolution of the state assembly and to make atmosphere conducive for holding an early elections in the state, which has been placed under governor's rule earlier this week.

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But, what was it that led such a political distortion? Is article 370 the cause for Jammu and Kashmir's present state?

Post India-Pakistan separation, tribes of Pakistan occupied Kashmir invaded in the state then King Hari Singh asked for help from Indian government, former governor Louis Mountbatten asked Hari Singh to be a part of Union of India only then Indian forces will be sent to assist.

He somehow agreed to join Union of India but asked for some special conditions till complete merger of the state since merger was confirmed only when majority of the people wanted it.

Soon the matter was taken to united nations by Pakistan as Indian forces pushed the invaders back and occupied almost 70 percent area of Kashmir back. From then the matter was transferred to UN as territory dispute between India and Pakistan which led to wars between the two country, and the special status granted for shorter period is still in force due to internal politics in the state.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been given an autonomous status under article 370 of the Indian constitution. This article is drafted in Part XXI of the Constitution: Temporary, Transitional and special provisions.

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There are six special provisions for Jammu Kashmir under article 370

• It exempted the State from the complete applicability of the Constitution of India. The State was allowed to have its own Constitution.
• Central legislative powers over the State were limited, at the time of framing, to the three subjects of defense, foreign affairs and communications.
• Other constitutional powers of the Central Government could be extended to the State only with the concurrence of the State Government.
• The 'concurrence' was only provisional. It had to be ratified by the State's Constituent Assembly.
• The State Government's authority to give 'concurrence' lasted only until the State Constituent Assembly was convened. Once the State Constituent Assembly finalized the scheme of powers and dispersed, no further extension of powers was possible.
• The Article 370 could be abrogated or amended only upon the recommendation of the State's Constituent Assembly.

Some people of the country are of opinion that Article 370 is the major cause of valley's continuous encounter with mishaps while according to others 370 is not the only reason for Jammu Kashmir’s current status. Internal politics and United Nations has been manipulating events which are causing such distortions.