Congress plenary: Draft political resolution silent on restoring Article 370, party still cautious

“The people of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh have always stood by the country and its sovereignty. Congress reaffirms that the whole of Jammu & Kashmir is part of India. Owing to the drastic steps taken in August 2019, the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir has been bifurcated summarily,” read the draft resolution.

It said the people of all three regions had expressed their deep disappointment and disillusionment with the state of affairs when Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra travelled through the region. “Congress will strive to restore complete statehood for the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, and bring Ladakh and its people under the protection of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India,” it said.

The formulation signals that the Congress is still cautious as it was in 2019. At its meeting on August 6, 2019, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) — hours after Parliament ratified the government’s decision to render Article 370 ineffective and bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir — discussed the issue threadbare and slammed the government but was silent on the restoration of special status for J&K.

The CWC, in a statement, deplored the “unilateral, brazen, and totally undemocratic manner in which Article 370 of the Constitution was abrogated and the State of Jammu and Kashmir was dismembered by misinterpreting the provisions of the Constitution”. It said at the time, “Every principle of Constitutional law, States’ rights, Parliamentary procedure and democratic governance was violated.”

“Article 370 was conceived and crafted by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and B R Ambedkar, assisted by N Gopalaswamy Ayyangar and V P Menon. Article 370 is the Constitutional recognition of the terms of the Instrument of Accession between the State of Jammu & Kashmir and India. It deserved to be honoured until it was amended, after consultation with all sections of the people, and strictly in accordance with the Constitution of India,” the CWC said, without demanding the restoration of the special status or revocation of the decision.

The Congress was divided on the issue then and the differences of opinion still persist. Several leaders, most of them young, had then publicly backed the government move.

The Congress, meanwhile, said it would restore special category status to the northeastern States, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. “Hilly states face unique developmental challenges, which require additional support. The abolition of ‘special category’ status which provided this support has been detrimental to the interests of the Northeast, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Congress will restore special category status to the North Eastern States, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Congress also stands committed to extend special category status to the state of Andhra Pradesh,” read the draft resolution.