The sword of Damocles is frequently used in allusion to the tale, epitomising the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. More generally, it is used to denote the sense of foreboding engendered by a precarious situation, especially one in which the onset of tragedy is restrained only by a delicate trigger or chance. This is precisely the present situation in Kashmir engendered by the case against Article 35-A in the Supreme Court of India. It is more a psychological threat than a physical one. There are two precedents when a similar application was dismissed by the court. This one too may also meet the similar fate. However, the legal process has to be completed. Even a Judge has observed that the presidential order was passed sixty years back and why have they come to the court now? The intention seems to keep the Kashmiris on tenterhooks regarding their demography which the repealing of the presidential order may change by abolition of the state subject law. However, one needs to understand that the relationship of the State of Jammu & Kashmir is fundamentally based on the instrument of accession signed between the then Maharaja of Kashmir Hari Singh and Lord Mountbatten, the then Governor General of India. The accession was only in three subjects, Defence, Foreign Affairs and Communications. In rest of the affairs, the State enjoyed total autonomy. To protect the state’s autonomy, article 370 was introduced in the constitution of India. The state also has a state subject law enacted by the Maharaja Hari Singh in 1927 to protect the rights to own land, get jobs for his subjects in all the three regions of the state. The law was enacted by the Maharaja on the representation of some prominent Pandits Jia Lal Kaul, Jia Lal Pandit and Jia Lal Kilam top intellectuals of that time, who feared that the people from Punjab and other places will take their administrative jobs and buy their land. The law is not for Kashmiri Muslims only but all the hereditary residents of the entire state including the part across the Line. It would be in the fitness of things to advisable for the Central Government not only to get the petitions dismissed as per the past practice and assure the residents of the state that their special status would be fully protected. That assurance itself could be a beginning for a dialogue to resolve the basic political problem hanging for last 70 years.
Sword of Damocles
