Lawyers are laying bare the patent illegality and unconstitutionality of the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 in the Supreme Court, former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said on Wednesday.
“I am relieved that the BJP-RSS dispensation will not be able to stifle the voices and arguments against such an unlawful act in the court. When me and my party colleagues gave voice to the sentiments of the people of Jammu and Kashmir since the State was dismembered and its special status snatched, we faced brunt of the brute establishment that has been trying to muzzle the voices of dissent,” Ms. Mufti said.
She said it was openly being described in the court that the then Governor self-appointed himself as the Constituent Assembly and his advisers assumed the role of the Council of Ministers. “It is being widely expressed how, in the absence of the concurrence from the actual Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, the whole process was carried out by the Centre illegally and unconstitutionally,” she added.
“For me this issue is not only about the legality and constitutionality but about the faith and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. It is also a matter that will decide whether the decision of our leadership [Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah] to disapprove the two-nation theory and accede to a secular and democratic India on the promise of safeguarding our identity and special status was right in the first place,” Ms. Mufti said.
National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah said the day-to-day hearing of the petitions by the Supreme Court was a test for the Constitution of India.
