Kashmir Valley erupts over 'rumours' about Article 35-A

Srinagar: Parts of the Kashmir Valley erupted on Monday after some television channels reported that the Supreme Court was resuming hearing on petitions challenging Article 35-A of the Constitution later in the day, instead of August 31 as scheduled. The police blamed the situation on “rumour-mongering by miscreants”.

Officials were quick to clarify it was actually a fresh petition by a right-wing activist, Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, before the court challenging Article 35-A that was listed for admission around 2 pm on Monday, not the cluster of petitions clubbed into one that may come up on August 31. The court later dropped the hearing on the fresh plea after an adjournment request by the petitioner, a report from New Delhi said.

But surging crowds had already taken to the streets in many parts of the Valley, including Srinagar and the southern towns of Anantnag, Shopian and Pulwama, as well as Sopore and Baramulla in the northwest, to chant slogans. They soon clashed with the security forces, witnesses said, adding that the latter had fired teargas canisters and pellet shotguns to quell stone-pelting mobs. Street violence was also reported from Ganderbal on the Srinagar-Kargil highway. Around three dozen people were injured in these clashes, and many got pellet injuries, hospital sources said.

In many areas, marketplaces were closed and vehicles withdrawn from roads amid chaos, witnesses said. Many schools were shut and their students and staff sent home “for security reasons”. Earlier, students of various educational institutions in Shopian, Anantnag, Pulwama and Ganderbal were seen in the forefront of the spontaneous protests.

The authorities urged people “to remain calm and understand the situation in its right perspective”. A state law department official reiterated that the cluster of petitions challenging Article 35A and clubbed in one petition was likely to be taken up for hearing on August 31. He said the exact date will, however, be known only on Wednesday. The official also said the Supreme Court was likely to add on the fresh petition with those others pertaining to the subject.

J&K’s additional DGP Munir Ahmed Khan warned “miscreants” of strict action over what he said was rumour-mongering. He tweeted: “A rumour is being spread by miscreants that hearing of Article 35A case in the Supreme Court is today. This is not a fact. We will investigate all these rumour-mongering cases and deal with the culprits strictly.”

Mr Khan later told this newspaper: “It was total rumour-mongering. There’s a (Facebook) page which started it. It was deliberate attempt to incite people. We have been able to trace the people who started it.” He added it was a “tamasha” started by “miscreants” but “we’re thankful to the people who understood the design quickly... Now everything is under control”.

Separatist leader and J&K’s chief Muslim cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also sought to clarify the issue through a tweet: “Confusion is being created among people about the hearing of case pertaining to Article 35A in the Indian Supreme Court for today. In this regard, what has been reported in the media is that a fresh case has been filed challenging Article 35A.”

An alliance of key separatist leaders has urged people to observe a two-day shutdown across the state from August 30. Life in the Kashmir Valley and some parts of the Jammu region had come to a standstill on August 5 and 6 in response to a similar call issued by the alliance called “Joint Resistance Leadership”, which includes Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the Mirwaiz and Muhammad Yasin Malik, and backed by several political, social and religious outfits and trade and civil society groups.

The Supreme Court had on August 6 adjourned the hearing on the petition as Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, one of three judges on the bench, was not present. The court said: “Let it be listed before a three-judge bench in the week commencing August 27 to determine (if) it should be heard by a Constitution Bench or not.”

Article 35A guarantees special rights and privileges to permanent residents of J&K and thus prohibits non-permanent residents from permanent settlement and from acquiring immovable properties, government jobs and scholarships in the state. It also empowers the state legislature to define “permanent residents” and provide special rights and privileges to them. It was added to the Constitution by a presidential order in 1954 issued by the then President in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 370, with the concurrence of the government of J&K. Article 370 guarantees a special status to Jammu and Kashmir within the Indian Union.

A petition seeking removal of Article 35A is pending before a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court. An NGO, “We the Citizens”, believed to be an RSS think tank, challenged Article 35A in the court in 2014 on the grounds that it was not added to the Constitution through an amendment under Article 368 and it was never presented before Parliament, and that it came into effect immediately.