The Narendra Modi government would have been better served if the controversy around having a special status for Jammu and Kashmir — conferred by Article 370 of the Indian Constitution — had not been orchestrated by elements in the PMO.
It serves little purpose other than to offer pointless provocation and raise suspicions of the RSS doing backseat driving in this government even as the Prime Minister himself is said to be focused on accelerating economic activity and shedding lethargy in government.
While the self-image of the RSS, the Hindutva mother body, is that of being a benign organisation of selfless volunteers immersed in service to the nation and propagating the “Hindu view of life”, scholars of the field point to its paramilitary provenance and ultra-communal outlook which “others” two major religions of India, Islam and Christianity, which can become a factor for social and political discord. This is hardly what the three-day old government needs to get known for.
From the time J&K acceded to India on October 27, 1947, in the bloody aftermath of the partition of India and Indian independence, the RSS (and later the Jan Sangh — the BJP’s earlier edition — working through the Praja Parishad in Jammu) propagated the Hindu nationalist opinion that the former princely state should be made to submit to the same terms of incorporation into India as other princely states, and be a fully integrated state of the country from the word go.
In the RSS outlook, which is also the core BJP thinking, the state deserved no special consideration on account of the unusual circumstances attending its accession to India. It is through Article 370 that the constitutional evolution of J&K has occurred within India after its accession. This is why this provision is anathema to Hindutva thought.
But they will do well to consider that the terms of accession with Maharaja Hari Singh laid down that India will direct only the defence, external affairs and communications policies of J&K while the state will manage its own affairs in other fields — an “integral” part of India with a measure of autonomy. Article 370 confirms this, but it also allows for Indian legislation in other fields to apply to the state on endorsement by its legislature. Thus, a wide range of Indian laws already applies to J&K. Its autonomy has diluted over the years.
Article 370 has proved to be a bridge, not a barrier. It is the pro-India political forces in Kashmir that get upset with any talk of scrapping this provision; the separatists rejoice. If the “bridge” goes, no resistance to secessionism remains. This will undo our Pakistan policy.
