Dismissing as mischievous, absurd, factually incorrect and violative of the spirit of constitution, the contention in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in J&K High Court, that Jammu and Kashmir must celebrate November 17 as its Republic Day because "it was on this day in 1956 when people of the State adopted their Constitution", BJP National Executive Member & J&K Chief Spokesperson Dr Jitendra Singh said here today, first of all, the contention itself is erroneous because the constitution of J&K came into force only on 26 January 1957 and secondly, the Republic Day on 26 January is observed to commemorate the constitution of India which has precedence over the constitution of J&K and the constitution of J&K itself acknowledges this fact.
The PIL is deliberately prompted by certain vested interests in the wake of a countrywide debate currently going on about the merits and demerits of Article 370,said Dr Jitendra Singh and added that the timing as well as the motive behind the PIL vindicates the widely held view that Article 370,instead of serving as a bridge between the State and the rest of India as claimed by certain political parties like the National Conference (NC), has infact provided ground for separatist and semi-separatist tendencies to grow.Dr Jitendra Singh said the mind-set behind this misguided PIL is also a vindication of the argument that Article 370 has not only created physical but also psychological barriers to the ultimate disadvantage of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.
Dr Jitendra Singh also contested the claim made in the PIL that J&K enjoyed a "special status" and said this perception was a result of a general misreading of Article 370. He clarified that Article 370 was simply a "procedural mechanism" between the constitution of India and J&K, but the irony is that Article 370 which was a creation of the constitution of India was misused, rather abused, by successive rulers of J&K to defy the basics of the very same constitution of India and Article 35A which was added via Article 370 without approaching the Parliament is a glaring instance of this abuse.Dr Jitendra Singh was of the opinion that the above PIL, though being mischievously motivated, will only help in carrying forward the ongoing debate on Article 370 initiated by Narendra Modi. It will be interesting to watch what stand is taken on the issue by the Congress party which is a ruling party both at the Center as well as in the State, he said and appealed to the Congress party leadership to come out with a clear, unambiguous stand particularly when they are in a power sharing arrangement with a chief minister who has enthusiastically engaged himself in a Twitter debate on Article 370 and related issues.