Finance minister Arun Jaitley picked Article 35A as one of the main reasons for the poor economic development of Jammu and Kashmir. It was in a blog that he said that the “constitutionally vulnerable” Article 35A has denied the people of the state of Jammu & Kashmir a booming economy, economic activity and jobs, even as he cautioned Opposition parties in the state for being “being soft in criticizing separatism”.
In a blog titled “The Rule of Law and the State of Jammu and Kashmir”, Mr. Jaitley said the seven-decade history of the State confronts changing India with several questions, adding that most Indians now believe that the “Nehruvian course” was a “historical blunder”. “Does our policy today have to be guided by that erroneous vision or an out of box thinking which is in consonance with ground reality?” he asked.
“Article 35A was surreptitiously included by a presidential notification in the Constitution in 1954. It discriminates between permanent residents of the state and all other Indian citizens living elsewhere. Lakhs of Indian citizens in J&K vote in Lok Sabha elections but not in the assembly, municipal or panchayat polls”.
“Their children cannot get government jobs. They cannot own property and their children cannot get admitted to government institutions. The same applies to those who live elsewhere in the country. The heirs of ladies marrying outside the state are disinherited from owning or inheriting property,” Jaitley said in a blog post
“Lakhs of Indian citizens in J&K vote in Lok Sabha elections but not in Assembly, municipal or Panchayat polls. Their children cannot get government jobs. They cannot own property and their children cannot get admitted to governmental institutions.
“The same applies to those who live elsewhere in the country. The heirs of ladies marrying outside the state are disinherited from owing or inheriting property,” the minister added.
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