Article 370: What Gupkar parties, Ghulam Nabi Azad, BJP said ahead of Supreme Court verdict today

Ahead of the Supreme Court’s verdict on Monday on the constitutional validity of the Centre’s decision to abrogate controversial Article 370, several regional parties.

In Jammu and Kashmir expressed hope that the provision will be restored. The Bharatiya Janata said there should not be any politics on the Supreme Court ruling and everyone should respect it.

While former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad expressed hope that the Supreme Court will deliver a verdict in favour of the people, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said the court’s verdict should be clear that the decision taken by the BJP-led central government was “illegal”.

A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court reserved its verdict on the petitions on September 5 after conducting daily hearings on the matter from August 2. According to the cause list for December 11 (Monday), uploaded on the court’s website, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud would deliver the verdict. The other members of the bench are Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant.

“I have said it earlier … there are only two (institutions) that can return articles 370 and 35A to the people of Jammu and Kashmir — Parliament and the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court bench is non-partisan and we hope that it will give a decision in favour of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” Azad told reporters on Sunday.

Azad, who floated the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) after leaving the Congress, said he could not foresee Parliament reversing the decisions taken on August 5, 2019 as it would require a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha.

“To return Article 370 and Article 35A would require 350 seats (in the Lok Sabha). Any regional party in Jammu and Kashmir can get three, four or a maximum of five seats. That would not be enough. I do not see the opposition mustering such numbers. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji had the majority, but he did not do it. So it is only the Supreme Court that can do it,” news agency PTI quoted Azad as saying.

Azad also said the people of Jammu and Kashmir, irrespective of their religion or ethnicity, have an emotional attachment to the special provisions of the Constitution that were repealed four years ago.

Azad said the special provisions were enacted by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1925 to protect the land and jobs for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. “These provisions found a place in the Constitution of the country after independence in the form of Article 35A. So many governments came and went over the last 100 years and no one felt the need to change it,” he added.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said his party will not disturb the peace in Jammu and Kashmir even in case of an adverse verdict from the Supreme Court on the petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 and will continue its fight in accordance with the law.

The NC and PDP are part of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), also called the Gupkar Alliance, which was formed by parties in Jammu and Kashmir to fight for the restoration of Article 370.

“The Supreme Court has to give its verdict, let it. If we had to disturb the situation, we would have done it after 2019. However, we said it then and we reiterate it now that our fight will be peaceful and as per the Constitution, taking the help of the law to protect our rights and preserve our identity. What is wrong in it? Don’t we have a right to say this in a democracy? Can’t we raise objections in a democracy? If others can talk, why not us?” Omar said at a party convention at Rafiabad in Baramulla district on Sunday.

Abdullah claimed that police had been summoning National Conference leaders to police stations since Saturday night and “intimidating” them. “The Supreme Court has not passed a verdict yet. How do you know what is the verdict? Maybe it is in our favour! Then what is the need to call my party colleagues to police stations…

“Allah willing, if the verdict goes against them (BJP), what will you do if they start writing against it on Facebook?” he asked. Abdullah said there was no justification to put curbs on National Conference leaders as they have always been votaries of peace.

“We had knocked at the door of the Supreme Court in the hope of getting justice and that sentiment persists even today,” he said. Mehbooba Mufti, also former chief minister, said it is the apex court’s responsibility to ensure that it does not push the BJP agenda, but keeps the integrity of the country and its Constitution intact.

“I think the decision should be simple that whatever was done on August 5, 2019, was illegal, unconstitutional, against Jammu and Kashmir and the promises made to the people here,” she said. BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Ravinder Raina said the Supreme Court has heard both sides through a transparent process.

“We are confident that it will no longer remain a political issue after the Supreme Court verdict. We are all citizens of this democratic country and everyone should respect and accept whatever the decision the honourable Supreme Court takes.

“Our judiciary is the greatest. There should be no politics on the verdict,” Raina said.

Meanwhile, authorities said they have made adequate security arrangements to ensure that peace is not disturbed. “We are duty-bound to ensure that peace prevails in the Valley under all circumstances,” Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir Zone V K Birdi told news agency PTI.

While the IGP refused to divulge specifics of the security set-up for Monday, he said “adequate arrangements” have been put in place.