Restore statehood to 200-year-old J&K state, revive State Assembly: JKNPP

Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) chief Bhim Singh Thursday urged President Ramnath Kovind for his urgent intervention to save the 200-years-old state of J&K.
In a statement issued here, JKNPP chief said that J&K state had been founded by Dogra Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1846 when he declared Ladakh, Kashmir province as well as Jammu province as one state.
Singh expressed surprise on the silence of Members of Parliament about their silence in the Parliament on August 5, 2019 when one of the oldest states was converted into two Union Territories, infringing the fundamental rights of the citizens of India who had been residing in J&K with some special, civil and political rights conferred by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1928 describing the special rights of the residents of J&K as permanent residents.
The JKNPP chief reminded the Members of Parliament that it was the Constituent Assembly of India presided over by Bhimrao Ambedkar which had unanimously decided not to disturb the residential right guaranteed to the residents of J&K by a royal decree by Maharaja Hari Singh.
“This right was conferred on the permanent residents of J&K by the Constituent Assembly and the Constitution of India had conferred this right by the special order of the Constituent Assembly,” he said.
Singh said that the Constituent Assembly had guaranteed the ‘State Subject’ right as permanent residents’ right.
“The Parliament of India had no such power guaranteed to them in the Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly,” the JKNPP chief said.
Singh said that Article 370 had not been completely eroded by the Parliament nor the Parliament had a right to scrap a clause from Article 370 which had provided no right to the Parliament to declassify the provisions in Article 370 regarding the existence of “Instrument of Accession” signed by Maharaja Hari Singh but had not been re-framed by the Constituent Assembly.
“The State of J&K was not brought under the Constitution of India nor the Instrument of Accession was re-framed,” the JKNPP chief said. “It was only a political party headed by Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah that had no constitutional right to re-frame the Instrument of Accession which could have been made applicable only by the Constituent Assembly.”
Singh said that he had planned to hold a meeting of representatives of political parties, universities, Bar Council of India immediately to sort out this crisis which had been created on August 5, 2019 by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government.
“The return of statehood is essential for the integration of the entire nation,” he said.