India Supreme Court Nixes IIOJK Special Status, Elections Set for September 2024, Turning the Page on Article 370, Pakistan rejects Indian SC verdict on Article 370
NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court on Monday ruled in a unanimous verdict that the special status of held Kashmir was a temporary provision and upheld the order abrogating Article 370 in the constitution, the Times of India reported.
It also directed the election commission to hold elections in held Kashmir by September 30, 2024.
In August 2019, India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had revoked occupied Kashmir’s special status by repealing Article 370 of the constitution. The law had limited the power of the Indian parliament to impose laws in the state, apart from matters of defence, foreign affairs and communications.
The move allowed people from the rest of the country to have the right to acquire property in held Kashmir and settle there permanently.
Kashmiris, international organisations and critics of India’s Hindu nationalist-led government had termed the move an attempt to dilute the demographics of Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu settlers.
A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud had begun hearing the set of petitions challenging the reading down of Article 370 of the Indian constitution on on July 11 and reserved its verdict on September 5.
The move was challenged by the region’s pro-India political parties, the local Bar Association and individual litigants. The pleas, including those filed by the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party, had also challenged India-held Kashmir’s bifurcation into two union territories.
Today, CJI read out the operative part of the verdict written by him for himself and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, TOI reported. Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sanjiv Khanna wrote separate but concurrent judgments.
CJI Chandrachud observed the petitioners’ contention that the centre could not take any decision during proclamation under Article 356 was not acceptable, TOI said.
“Article 370 of the Constitution was an interim arrangement due to war conditions in state. Constituent assembly of Jammu and Kashmir was never intended to be permanent body,” CJI Chandrachud was quoted as saying.
The 2019 declaration was “a culmination of the process of integration and as such is a valid exercise of power”, the court said in its verdict.
The Indian apex court said occupied Kashmir did not retain the element of sovereignty after joining India. It further said it did not need to adjudicate on the validity of the presidential proclamation in the region as the petitioners had not challenged it.
According to the report, the ruling also termed petitioners’ arguments that the union government cannot take actions of irreversible consequences in the state during presidential rule as unacceptable.
Noting that Article 370 was a temporary provision, the SC said India-held Kashmir became an “integral part” of the country as reflected in Articles 1 and 370 of its constitution.
The CJI observed that Article 370 was meant for constitutional integration of the region with the union and not for disintegration, and that the President can declare that the said article ceases to exist.
The SC also upheld the reorganisation of Ladakh as a union territory.
The apex court also directed the country’s election commission to take steps to conduct elections for legislative assembly, TOI stated.
It ordered that India-held Kashmir be restored to the same statehood as any other Indian state — with no separate autonomy rights — “at the earliest and as soon as possible”.
Remarking that the people of occupied Kashmir “went through a lot and wounds need healing”, Justice Kaul directed that a truth and reconciliation commission be set up to probe human rights violations by state and non-state actors since the 1980s, the report said.
Reacting to the order, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the verdict a “beacon of hope” and said it “constitutionally upholds the decision taken by the Parliament of India on Aug 5, 2019”.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Karan Singh said a section of the people in occupied Kashmir “will not be happy with this judgment”.
Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said the Indian SC had “violated the international laws by giving a decision against the resolutions of the United Nations”.
Stating that the court has “betrayed the sacrifice of millions of Kashmiris”, Shehbaz asserted the verdict will be seen as a “recognition of the murder of justice”.
Former chief minister of held Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti termed the verdict nothing less than a death sentence for Mahatma Gandhi’s “idea of India”.
In a video message on X, she urged Kashmiris not to lose hope or get disheartened because this wasn’t their final destination but only a mere obstacle.
“Don’t make the mistake of accepting the Supreme Court decision as your destiny,” Mufti added. “We have seen many ups and downs. Our rivals want us to lose hope, get disheartened, and accept defeat but this won’t happen.”
The former CM termed the decision as a defeat for the country as it weakened it. “You have broken the hand that shook yours in 1947.”
“The way the Muslims of Kashmir along with the Sikhs and Buddhists bid adieu to Pakistan and chose to join hands with Gandhi’s India,” Mufti said. “It is the defeat of that ‘idea of India’ today.”
Ahead of the verdict’s announcement, she and Omar Abdullah, the president of the PDP and the National Conference — petitioners in the case — were put under house arrest, TOI reported.
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Act against UN resolutions: PML-N
LAHORE: The PML-N on Monday rejected the Indian Supreme Court’s judgment, endorsing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move in 2019 to deprive the Occupied Jammu and Kashmir of its special status by revoking the Article 370.
In a statement and through a post shared on X [formerly known as Twitter], former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is also the PML-N president, noted that the verdict passed by India’s top court had no value, just like the steps taken on August 5, 2019, which, he stressed, was against the UN resolutions.
The lie about Kashmir being an integral part of India would not turn a fact because of the Indian Supreme Court’s assertions, Shehbaz remarked.
He said Indian top judiciary act like a BJP worker and had also shown similar illegal approach in the past on the Babri Mosque issue.
The PML-N president promised that his party would raise their voice under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif in favour of the Kashmiri brethren at all levels, adding that they were standing side-by-side with the brothers and sisters of Kashmir in their struggle.
Similarly, Maryam Nawaz – the PML-N vice-president and chief organiser – in a separate statement described the verdict passed on Monday as another Indian lie.
“The Kashmiri people, Pakistan and the world reject India’s deceit,” she said and said the India’s Supreme Court committed a crime which would always be remembered as a dark chapter.
“Jammu and Kashmir belongs to the Kashmiris, no matter how many gimmicks India resorts to.”
She said all attempts made by India to subjugate the Kashmiris had failed and added that the UN Security Council resolutions and international law applied to the Kashmir dispute.
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Sherry denounces Indian court’s controversial decision
ISLAMABAD: Senator Sherry Rehman, Vice-President of the Pakistan Peoples Party, strongly denounced the Indian Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the revocation of the special status of Illegaly Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and said that regardless of India’s actions, Kashmiris’ inherent right to self-determination stands firm under international law and conventions.
She said: “The Supreme Court of India attempted to provide legal backing to the actions of the Modi government. The people of Indian-occupied Kashmir strongly reject the Indian Supreme Court’s decision, nor does it have any bearing on international law.”
In 2019, the Modi administration passed legislation revoking the special status of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Petitions challenging this move were submitted in 2019, experiencing a five-year delay.
“With 2024 marking an election year in India, the Supreme Court’s dismissal of petitions against the controversial legislation appears to be a strategic move aligning with Modi’s political agenda. This decision reflects the court’s endorsement of the BJP’s extremist politics. Such legal maneuvers cannot alter the disputed status of occupied Kashmir. The destiny of Kashmir lies not in the hands of the Modi government or the Indian Supreme Court but in the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people enshrined in the UN Resolution. Pakistan will continue to advocate for this cause and stand in solidarity with the people of Indian-occupied Kashmir. The resolution of the Kashmir issue will ultimately be determined by the people of Kashmir, in exercising their inherent and inalienable right to self-determination,” she said.
Senator Rehman added that the ethnic cleansing and bloodletting in both occupied Kashmir and Gaza where human rights are egregiously violated tells us that a selective application of international law is becoming normalised as expedient for the powerful . It is high time many of us spoke out in solidarity with the oppressed, she said.
Pakistan rejects Indian SC verdict on Article 370
ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jillani has slammed the Indian Supreme Court’s verdict that validated the Narendra Modi-led government’s unilateral move to scrap Article 370 — the constitutional provision that granted semi-autonomous status to the Muslim-majority region.
Addressing the media to share Pakistan’s response to the Indian Supreme Court’s verdict in Islamabad on Monday, the interim foreign minister read out Islamabad’s official response to the verdict saying Pakistan categorically rejects the judgment on the status of IIOJK.
“Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally-recognised dispute, which remains on the agenda of the UN Security Council for over seven decades. The final disposition of Jammu and Kashmir is to be made in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions and as per the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. India has no right to make unilateral decisions on the status of this disputed territory against the will of the Kashmiri people and Pakistan,” he added.
The FM said Pakistan does not acknowledge the supremacy of the Indian Constitution over Jammu and Kashmir and added that any process, subservient to the Indian Constitution, carries no legal significance.
He further said: “India cannot abdicate its international obligations on the pretext of domestic legislations and judicial verdicts. Its plans to annex IIOJK are bound to fail.
“The judicial endorsement of India’s unilateral and illegal actions of August 5, 2019, is a travesty of justice, based on distorted historical and legal arguments.
“The Indian Supreme Court’s verdict fails to recognise the internationally-recognised disputed nature of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. It further fails to cater to the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, who have already rejected India’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019. The judgement is yet another manifestation of the pliant judiciary under India’s ruling dispensation.
“Restoration of statehood, conduct of State Assembly elections or similar steps cannot serve as a substitute to the grant of the right to self-determination to the Kashmiri people.
“The judgement cannot distract the international community’s attention from the gross and systematic human rights violations being perpetrated in IIOJK.
“India’s unilateral and illegal measures since August 5, 2019, have been aimed at changing the demographic structure and political landscape of the IIOJK, in flagrant violation of international law and the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, especially Resolution 122 (1957). They remain a matter of grave concern for Pakistan as their ultimate goal is to convert the Kashmiris into a disempowered community in their own land. These measures must be rescinded to create an environment for peace and dialogue.
“Pakistan will continue to extend its full political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of IIOJK for the realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination.”
Indian SC verdict
India’s top court on Monday upheld a move by PM Modi’s government to revoke the limited autonomy of Muslim-majority IIOJK, where an insurgency has raged for decades, and ordered elections within a year.
The 2019 declaration was “a culmination of the process of integration and as such is a valid exercise of power”, the Supreme Court said in its verdict.
The move was accompanied by the imposition of direct rule from New Delhi, mass arrests, a total lockdown and communication blackout that ran for months as India bolstered its armed forces in the region to contain protests.
Modi’s muscular policy has been deeply controversial in IIOJK, with the insurgency that claimed tens of thousands of lives over decades largely quietened.
The removal of Article 370 of the constitution, which enshrined the special status of the disputed region, was challenged by Kashmir’s pro-India political parties, the local Bar Association and individual litigants, culminating in Monday’s verdict.
The court upheld removing the region’s autonomy while calling for IIOJK to be restored to statehood with the same status as any other Indian state “at the earliest and as soon as possible”.
The court also ordered state elections to take place by September 30, 2024.
Security was stepped up across the disputed territory ahead of the verdict, with authorities deploying hundreds of soldiers, paramilitary troops, and police in the main city of Srinagar to thwart any protests.
Kashmiri rejects Indian Supreme Court decision of state division
Muzaffarabad: A protest was organized by Pasban-e Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir against the biased decision of the Indian Supreme Court regarding the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to details, large number of people gathered at Burhan Wani Chowk and chanted slogans against Indian government and Supreme Court of India. Protestors set Indian flag on fire.
Speakers on the occasion termed the the decision of the four-member bench along with Indian Chief Justice as unfair and biased decision.
Speaking on the occasion, speakers said that Chief Justice of India has created a new tragedy in South Asia by bringing injustice to 2 million people.
The speakers said neither Indian government nor any court run by its government can change the status of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiri people have already rejected Indian illegal act of 5th August 2019.
Speakers lamented the cruel and biased decision that has been imposed against the consent of Kashmiri people, saying that the people of the state of Jammu and Kashmir reject Indian coercive rule, legal and military coercion.
“The people of the state will continue their struggle for their freedom and right to self-determination”, they reiterated.
The speakers questioned the member countries of the United Nations Security Council as why they failed to implement the resolutions on the Kashmir issue.
The speakers said that India should remember that it cannot freeze the freedom spirit of the Kashmiri people through oppression, military and judicial terrorism.
The rally was led by Chairman Pasban-e-Hurriyat Uzair Ahmed Ghazali, Usman Ali Hashim, Mushtaq-ul-Islam, Shaukat Javed Mir, Khalid Mehmood Zaidi, Bilal Ahmed Farooqui, Muhammad Ishaq Shaheen, Faisal Farooq, Muhammad Fayyaz, Irshad Tantray, Imtiaz Aziz Khan, Muhammad Altaf Minhas, Mehmood Shah and others.
President strongly rejects Indian SC verdict
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday strongly rejected the Indian Supreme Court’s (ISC) decision to uphold the revocation of the special status of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K).
He expressed dismay over the decision, saying the Indian judiciary had succumbed to the fascist Hindutva ideology giving decisions suited to the Indian government.
He added that such decisions could not legitimize the occupation of IIOJ&K by India as the Jammu and Kashmir issue was an internationally recognized dispute that remained on the agenda of the UN Security Council for over seven decades.
While condemning the decision, the president said that it was unfortunate that Indian courts had a history of giving decisions against Muslims as in the cases of Babri Masjid, Samjhuta Express, Hyderabad Mecca Masjid blast and Naroda Gam massacre during the 2002 Gujrat riots etc. He added that the verdict of the ISC could not change the status of the IIOJ&K.
He said the Judgement would further strengthen the resolve of the people of IIOJ&K in their just struggle against Indian illegal occupation. He urged the international community to make India fulfill the pledges made by her to the Kashmiri people in the past.
The president reiterated that the entire Pakistani nation was committed to continue its moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiri brethren till the achievement of their right to self-determination in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.
