Life normal, peace ascendant and stones silent in Kashmir, Union government affidavit tells Supreme Court on eve of Article 370 hearings

The affidavit also claims that schools, colleges and universities have been functioning without any strikes during the last three years, adding that protests and bandhs have become a thing of the past.

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TODAY, the Supreme Court is slated to hear a batch of petitions challenging the Union government's decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and divide it into two Union territories.

Yesterday, the Union government filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court claiming that life has returned to normalcy and peace prevails in J&K after three decades of turmoil.

The affidavit also claims that schools, colleges and universities have been functioning without any strikes during the last three years, adding that protests and bandhs have become a thing of the past.

"Participation in sporting activities is phenomenal, reaching 60 lakhs in 2022–23. These facts clearly prove the positive impact of the constitutional changes effected in 2019," the government's affidavit reads.

It adds that organised stone pelting incidents connected with the agenda of "terrorism" and "separatism" have come down to zero in 2023, while there were 1,767 such incidents in 2018.

"In the year 2018, there were 52 incidents of organised bandhs or hartals, [this number] has come down to zero in the year 2023 (till date). 

"In addition, resolute anti-terror actions have resulted in the dismantling of the terror eco-system which is reflected in a significant drop in terrorist recruitment from 199 in the year 2018 to 12 in the year 2023 till date," the affidavit states.

The government has also claimed that any instances on the part of the petitioners to seek the overturning of its decision to abrogate Article 370 would not only be against the very interest of the people of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh but would also be against the security and sovereignty of India due to the very peculiar geographical location of the region and unique security challenges arising therefrom.

The affidavit came a day before a Bench comprising the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant was scheduled to take up the matter to issue procedural directions and get the matter ready for hearing.

The matter has come out of cold storage after three years. It was last heard on March 2, 2020, when a Constitution Bench refused to refer the matter to a seven-judge Bench.

On August 5, 2019, the then President of India Ram Nath Kovind issued an Order, The Constitution (Application To Jammu And Kashmir) Order, 2019, which, in effect, made Article 370— the provision that gave special status to J&K— redundant.

On August 9, 2019, the President gave his assent to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 that bifurcated the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories.

The Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir comprises the territories of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, other than Kargil and Leh.

The Union territory of Ladakh comprises Kargil and Leh districts.

The Union government is claiming that after these constitutional changes, major steps were taken to strengthen grassroots democracy.

"For the first time in its history, a duly elected three-tier Panchayati Raj system has been established in Jammu and Kashmir. Elections for the members of the district development councils were held in J&K in November–December 2020. 

"As of today, there are more than 34,000 elected members in the rural and urban bodies representing grassroots democracy," the affidavit states.

The government asserts that prior to the abrogation of Article 370, there had been a non-application of the entirety of the Constitution of India in the territory of the erstwhile state of J&K and due to the consequent non-applicability of several beneficial Central legislations, there were obvious constraints in providing governance in the region which resulted in alienation of the people on a daily basis.

"This alienation was fuelled by secessionist forces and terrorists who had cross-border support— both financial and otherwise. The lack of stability and lack of applicability of Central laws also inevitably resulted in deprivation among common people. 

"Such deprivation also compounded the situation, allowing people to be misguided and misused by various secessionist and terrorist forces for anti-India [actions]— from stone pelting to other activities," the affidavit states.