The autonomy that father-and-son Abdullah dream of is the return of J&K to its pre-1953 status with regard to its constitutional position -- vis-à-vis the rest of India. That is simple. But what is the sanctity of that cut-off date for them?

The commoner interested in politics is unlikely to know despite the dozens of media discourses on the autonomy theme -- which say what about those discourses? Never mind.

You'll readily understand the significance of the 'pre-1953' phrase when told that it was on August 9, 1953 that Sheikh Abdullah, J&K's prime minister, was dismissed from office and detained under the state's Prevention Detention Act by the erstwhile yuvraj (in his capacity as the Sadar-i-Riyasat aka governor of the state). Abdullah and 25 others, 10 of whom were hiding or in Pakistan, were charged with conspiracy to 'overawe by force and show of force the duly constituted government of Jammu and Kashmir with the object of overthrowing it and facilitating the annexation of the State's territory by Pakistan' ( The Guardian, London, September 19, 1962, and The Times, London, September 20, 1962, as cited on page 86 of The Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir, Universal Law Publishing Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, third edition, 1998, by Dr A S Anand, former chief justice of India.)

The matter was called the Kashmir Conspiracy Case and resulted in Sheikh Abdullah being in jail till January 1958 when he was released, only to be rearrested in April that year. Final charges were brought against him and others in August 1962 and the first prosecution witness gave evidence in the special sessions court, Jammu, on September 19 that year. Then, suddenly, the case was closed. Was Jawaharlal Nehru, the long-time friend of Sheikh Sa'ab, the invisible potentate? Never mind.

By then, however, considerable advance had occurred in J&K's constitutional relationship with the rest of India. Not only had the state's separate constitution seen the light of day on November 17, 1956, with its intricate links to India, but also several Indian parliamentary laws had become enforceable in J&K and many provisions of the Indian Constitution had become valid for the state in toto or with modifications. Those links had been effected by the President of India's 'Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order' of May 14, 1954 and its subsequent amendments from time to time -- all issued under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.

rest of the article is at http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/jul/30arvind.htm

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