That elections for the J&K legislature haven’t been held is “the most glaring denial of democracy and democratic rights of the people,” as the article puts it.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] met in New Delhi on August 5 and unanimously passed a resolution calling for the rapid holding of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
And this while we mark the passing of another year after Article 370 was repealed and Jammu and Kashmir was abolished.
On August 5, 2023, it will have been four years after Article 370 was revoked and the state of Jammu and Kashmir was abolished. “This attack on the Constitution and federalism foreshadowed a comprehensive attack on the rights of citizens in Jammu and Kashmir,” the resolution said.
In the five years that Jammu and Kashmir has been under Central authority, the basic domicile rules and property rights that define the state have been altered. It claimed that there was an organised effort to alter the state’s population structure.
“Draconic legislation like the Public Safety Act and UAPA have been used to detain political leaders and activists en masse throughout this time period. There are still hundreds of political prisoners in jail, and many of them aren’t even in J&K.
Despite boastful assertions, the economy has worsened, and the jobless rate is thrice the national average. Apple farmers and other small business owners, among others, have seen their incomes drop as a result.
The CPI (M) has complained of serious governmental suppression of the media. Censorship and restrictions on free speech are the results of these new guidelines. It claimed that several reporters had been arrested for breaking the law.
Not holding elections for the J&K legislature is a blatant violation of democracy and the democratic rights of the people. “The Central government is not conducting elections even after a delimitation procedure that was weighted to promote BJP’s interests and reduced the representation of the people of the Kashmir valley.
“Therefore, the inhabitants of J&K are now officially second-class citizens in every way. Therefore, the CPI(M) Central Committee insists that elections for the J&K Assembly be conducted without further delay.
It said that freeing all political prisoners and stopping the use of extreme measures to silence political dissent and the media are prerequisites to restoring democracy. It demanded that the “Centre should reverse all the measurers that erode the domicile status of the permanent residence of J&K and protect their land rights.”
It reads as follows: “The Central Committee expresses the solidarity with the democratic forces and the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their struggle to restore their rights.”
