In the past week, there has been a flurry of developments in Kashmir. This has triggered panic and rumors among politicians and locals alike. The reason behind this is the revoking of article 370, which is set to go down in history as one of the most significant changes in the constitution. For those who may not know article 370 is what has kept Jammu and Kashmir to India.  However, this no longer seems to be the case after Amit Shah, India’s home minister, read out a presidential notification concerning the future of Jammu and Kashmir.

The presidential notification read by Shah stated the decision to scrap the contentious Article 370 of the constitution and to split the state into two Union territories i.e. Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. While giving his speech, Shah said, “I am presenting the resolution to revoke Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir except the first clause 370(1). During the previous week, the Home Minister had pointed out that Article 370 is only a “temporary provision.”

What Article 370 Entails

Article 370 of the Indian constitution is a temporary provision that grants special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir. Any other provision of the constitution, which are applicable to other states in India, are not applicable to Jammu and Kashmir. For instance, until 1965, Jammu and Kashmir had prime minister in place of chief minister and Sadr-e-Riyasat for governor.

Provisions of Article 370

According to Article 370, parliament will need to concur with the state government before applying any other law. However, this does not affect defense, finance, foreign affairs and communications. Therefore, people living in the state have a separate set of laws as compared to other Indians. Some of the laws that they have to make do with touch on fundamental rights, ownership of property and citizenship. Because of this provision, Indians from other states in the country cannot purchase land or property in Jammu and Kashmir.

History of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution

Sheikh Abdullah first drafted article 370 of the Indian constitution in 1947. At this time, Maharaja Hari Singh and Jawahar Lal Nehru had appointed him as the prime minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Before drafting article 370, Sheikh Abdullah had argued that it should not be placed under temporary provisions of the Indian constitution. Instead, he was aiming to have “iron clad autonomy” for the state.

The validity of Article 370 has been questioned every now and then with some lawmakers not sure whether it can be scraped off. However, Subhash Kashyap, a constitution expert and former secretary General of the Lok Sabha said this contentious article is not barred from a debate in parliament.  “Article 370 under the constitution has been described as a temporary provision and not a special provision,” he said. However, legal experts still argue that there are some practical problems in removing Article 370 as it comes with riders. But finally, bill for removing Article 370 has been passed with desired majority in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and soon it will get implemented.