President of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement (JKPM) Dr Shah Faesal has cautioned the Center against fiddling with constitutional safeguards guaranteed to the state.
In a statement here he said that “the outrage against theproposed delimitation of Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir needs tobe understood in its right context. Media reports that Centre was consideringan early redrawing of the constituency boundaries in J&K , in the run-up toelections , have been a cause of concern for the people of Kashmir. Similar isthe case of the proposal related to reducing the term of State Assembly to 5years.”
He said the move is seen as a step towards changing theMuslim majority character of the state.
While endorsing concerns of the people, Shah Faesal saidthat delimitation of the State at present was not possible as the statelegislature has frozen the process of delimitation till 2026-2031 by amendingthe J&K Representation of Peoples Act and Section 47(3) of the Constitutionof Jammu and Kashmir.
He added that since a popular government is not in place atthe moment and the Governor as a representative of the Centre cannot initiatelegislation on critical Constitutional matters of the State, any effort fordelimitation would be totally unconstitutional and would further widen the prevailingmistrust among the people of Kashmir.
He said in the year 2002, the amendment in J&KRepresentation of Peoples Act and Section 47(3) of the Constitution of Jammuand Kashmir, was done to bring the State at par with rest of the country wherethe delimitation was frozen for the same period. Therefore, the freeze is notabout denial of rights to any region or community.
If a growing population necessitates the redrawing ofAssembly constituencies let it be done at its right time by establishing a DelimitationCommission after following the due process of law. ” Similar is the casewith reservation of SC constituencies. The process has to be fair andtransparent and guided by Constitutional principles, ” Shah Faesal added.
He said, clearly any proposal of redrawing of Assemblyconstituencies at a time when elections are due looks like an attempt atgerrymandering. He said delimitation at present is seen a fraud being committedon the people of J&K, more so the people of Kashmir by snatching theircritical stake-holding from the politics of the State. ” There is aserious concern in Kashmir that that demographic uniqueness of the state wasunder serious threat and the conspiracy about disempowerment of the Kashmiripeople was being hatched at the highest level,” he added.
Cautioning the Center against subverting the Constitutionfor satiating its narrow political gains, Dr Faesal said that the people ofKashmir are well aware about the existential threat looming large over them andwould give any sacrifice to protect their Identity and honour.