What is Article 35A: Days after a massive troop deployment by the Centre and decision to curtail the Amarnath Yatra triggered uneasy murmurs in Jammu and Kashmir, the Modi government on Monday moved a resolution in the Rajya Sabha to revoke Article 370 which grants special status to the border state. While Governor Satya Pal Malik had earlier downplayed the development, the political leaders including former CMs Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti had linked the recent developments with the BJP’s long-pending agenda to revoke Article 35A which grants special status to the border state.

Moving the resolution in the Rajya Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah said that that all clauses of Article 370 of the Constitution, which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir, will not be applicable in the state. Making a statement, Shah said this will come into effect when the President signs gives assent and the central government notifies it. Shah also moved a bill proposing bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories — Jammu and Kashmir division and Ladakh. Making the announcement in Rajya Sabha, he said the UT in Ladakh will have no legislature like Chandigarh while the other UT of Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislature like Delhi and Puducherry. Shah introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation bill.

So what is Article 35A which has the Kashmir Valley simmering?

Article 35A was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential order. This means the article lacks parliamentary sanction. The order was issued by the then President Rajendra Prasad, exercising the powers conferred upon him by the clause (1) of the Article 370 of the Constitution, on the advice of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Those who are opposing it have argued that Article 35A promotes the two-nation theory which is against the theory of secularism whereas the state parties say that it is a vital bridge between Kashmir and India.

Article 35A accords special rights and privileges to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. It empowers the state legislature to define permanent residents of the state. According to the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution, which was adopted in 1956, it defined a permanent resident as someone who was a state subject on May 14, 1954 or who has been a resident of the state for 10 years and has lawfully acquired immovable property.

Under this article, the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly has the power to alter the definition of the permanent resident through a law passed with at least two-thirds majority.

So the article bars people from outside Jammu and Kashmir from acquiring any immovable property in the state and no outsider can get a government job. However, it allows Hindus from Jammu and Ladakh regions to settle down in the Valley.

The article also denies property rights to a woman if she marries a person outside Jammu and Kashmir. If a woman marries a man outside Jammu and Kashmir, the article has a provision which leads to forfeiting her right over the property. It also applies to their heirs.

The article states that only a permanent resident can join any professional college run by the government or get any form of government aid. No one from outside the state is allowed to join such colleges or get funds from the government treasury.