Mumbai: There has been a row over Article 370 after Union Cabinet minister, Jitendra Singh said the government was open to debate on revocation of Article 370 and in response Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah’s tweeted that ‘either Article 370 will exist or Jammu and Kashmir will not be a part of India.'
So, what is Article 370 all about?
Article 370 is about providing space, in matters of governance, to the people of a State who felt deeply vulnerable about their identity and insecure about the future.
It provides temporary provisions to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, granting it special autonomy.
The article states that the provisions of Article 238, which was omitted from the Constitution in 1956 when Indian states were reorganised, shall not apply to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Under Article 370 the Indian Parliament cannot increase or reduce the borders of the state.
It is also learnt that Dr BR Ambedkar, who drafted the Indian Constitution, had refused to draft Article 370. So the Article was eventually drafted by Gopalaswami Ayyangar. Mr Ayyangar was a minister without portfolio in the first Union Cabinet of India. He was also a former Diwan to Maharajah Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir
The original draft explained "the Government of the State means the person for the time being recognised by the President as the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers for the time being in office under the Maharaja's Proclamation dated the fifth day of March, 1948."
There was an amendment on November 15, 1952, where it was changed to "the Government of the State means the person for the time being recognised by the President on the recommendation of the Legislative Assembly of the State as the Sadr-i-Riyasat (now Governor) of Jammu and Kashmir, acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers of the State for the time being in office."
