Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 16: Former Union Minister and veteran Congress leader Prof Saifuddin Soz has claimed that according to one of the most prominent jurists of India, Ram Jathemalani, the Article 35-A of the Constitution can not be taken away against the will of the people of the J&K State.
” Jethmalani is clear on the effect of Article 35A as enshrined in the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir State for full protection of various rights such as employment, improvable property etc. of permanent residents of the entire State. I spoke to Jethmalani on phone in Mumbai, today, and reminded him on his assertion in response to my question, in presence of Mani Shankar Aiyar and Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri at his residence in April this year that the Constitution of J&K State was a sacrosanct situation and its provisions could not be taken away by anybody. I asked him as to why, then, there was an organized effort to seek revocation of Article-35A. Ram reassured me that the said effort would not yield the desirable effect for those who seek its revocation,” Soz maintained.
“The noted jurist also stressed the fact that he firmly stands on whatever he wrote about the permanence of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir State for the protection of its state-subjects, in his book ‘Ram Jethmalani – Maverick, Unchanged, Unrepentant’ (Rupa Publications). I further reminded Jethmalani of his another assertion in the same book, “the Kashmir problem is not insurmountable and could have been resolved long ago, but the political will and adroitness to do so, has been lacking,” Soz claimed.
“I share with my fellow Kashmiris that Ram Jethmalani continues to be an epitome of strength in his idea that all that is enshrined in the Constitution of J&K State can’t be taken away by anybody against the will of the people of Jammu and Kashmir State.
All that I consider to be necessary, at this critical juncture, is that we must stay united for a noble cause like the protection of Article 35-A and the Article 370 of the Constitution of India,” Soz added.
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