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Kashmiri Diaspora to challenge Supreme Court’s jurisdiction over Article 35A

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‘Dr Nazir Gilani to prepare appropriate documentation for the proceedings’

SRINAGAR: Kashmiri Diaspora has decided to challenge the jurisdiction of the Indian Supreme Court over Article 35A and affairs related to Jammu Kashmir including the tinkering with the state subject laws,” said a JKLF statement issued to GNS on Wednesday.

The statement said that leading members of the Kashmiri Diaspora met on August 5 at a roundtable meeting held in Luton to deliberate on the implications and consequences for citizens of Jammu Kashmir as the GoI “through the Supreme Court of India intends to abolish state subject rules by abrogation of Article 35A that safeguards and protects rights of people in Jammu Kashmiris since 1927”.

The roundtable was convened by Professor Zafar Khan, Head of Diplomatic Bureau of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), the statement said adding that participants at the roundtable acknowledged the seriousness of Article 35A’s abrogation, and agreed that the consequences of abolishing the state subject rules have not been registered and fully realized across both sides of the ceasefire line in Jammu Kashmir as well as among the large Kashmiri Diaspora spread throughout the world.

The roundtable further acknowledged that an appropriate legal defence against abrogation of Article 35A has been found to be wanting and the situation required prompt and effective action from people of Jammu Kashmir.

“The meeting decided that Kashmiri Diaspora as a stakeholder must become a party in the case to mount an effective legal defence, by challenging Indian Supreme Court’s jurisdiction over Jammu Kashmir affairs especially since India has surrendered the conditional accession by Jammu Kashmir of 27 October 1947 at the UN Security Council on 15 January 1948 for a UN-supervised vote. Therefore there is no accession with India of Jammu Kashmir at this point, as the grave situation pleaded by India in October 1947 has been reversed by the UN-brokered ceasefire on 01 January 1949,” the statement said.

“Furthermore, the UN Security Council Resolution of 30 March 1951 has placed Indian Government under caution, and the Supreme Court of India does not have any such jurisdiction in Jammu Kashmir Affairs. Any actions taken after this date in Jammu Kashmir therefore, have no merit under the UN Resolutions,” the meeting observed.

Renowned human rights expert and jurist Dr Nazir Gilani on the occasion referred to tinkering with the state subject rules in Jammu Kashmir as the matter of “life and death” for the citizens, and flagged up the “real dangers” to self-determination, identity, social, economic and environmental dangers to the Jammu Kashmir and its citizens.

Participants agreed upon challenging the Supreme Court of India’s jurisdiction and asked Dr Nazir Gilani to prepare appropriate documentation for the proceedings.

“Apart from Dr Nazir Gilani and Prof Zafar Khan, others who participated in the roundtable meeting included Prof Imtiaz Chaudhry, advocate Malik Sadiq Subhani, Sardar Sabir Gul, Syed Tahseen Gilani, Syed Hussain Shaheed Sarwar, Raja Mohammed Ajaib Khan, Raja Kaman Afsar Khan and Ejaz Ahmed Malik, while messages of a number of notable leaders, and activists including Prof Nazir Nazish, Prof Nazir Shawl and Prof Raja Mohammed Arif Khan were present during the deliberations,” the statement said.

Wider consultation will continue, according to Professor Zafar Khan, to ensure for an effective legal challenge, with active political and diplomatic support of the worldwide Kashmiri Diaspora, the JKLF statement said. (GNS)

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